Show winter busy time for fruit grower removing of sul surplus plus trees pruning and grafting most important by W n thies extension Porn massachusetts state service there Is no long vacation season for the apple grower the winter season may not find the fruit grower so BO rushed as in the midst of spraying or harvesting the crop but still there are things which must be done one of the most important jobs Is removing surplus trees these trees include neglected apple trees in fields or fence rows trees which never receive any spraying or pruning and as a result are an excellent breeding place for insects and diseases of all kinds they constitute a menace to commercial orchards in the vicinity in some orchards filler trees were planted and the trees have now grown so BO large that the main crop trees are being crowded and shaded these filler filer trees should be removed as soon as they are large enough to begin crowding pruning is another dormant season job for the fruit grower As much money is wasted by poor pruning as Is gained by good pruning but this his only serves to emphasize the im importance or of pruning properly another job for the dormant season Is top grafting trees of poor varieties which are more popular on the market this is a much quicker way of changing varieties in the orchard than cutting down the old trees and planting new ones some of the most valuable winter orchard work is of the easy chair type this work includes starting an orchard account to reckon costs of production as well as profit and loss planning the years program of pest control sales and storage reading up on reent recent experimental results and attending meetings of fruit growers |