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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

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Accessions No. / If * *. Class No.

PRUNING -BOOK

THE PRUNING -BOOK

A MONOGRAPH OF THE

PRUNING AND TRAINING OF PLANTS

AS APPLIED TO AMERICAN

CONDITIONS

L. H. BAILEY

Sttogtafc
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.

1898
All rights reserved

ic. Dept.

J. Horace McFarland Company
Harrisburg, Pa.

OP T

UNIVERSITY ^

OUTLINE

PAET I
THE FUNDAMENTALS

CHAPTER I

PAGES

THE PHILOSOPHY OP PRUNING 1-20

Does pruning devitalize plants ? 4

CHAPTER II
THE FRUIT-BUD 21-75

The bud and the branch 22

The leaf -bud and the fruit-bud 27

The fruit -spur as illustrated by the apple . . 30

The fruit -spur as illustrated by the pear ... 40
The fruit -spur as illustrated by the plum and

cherry 46

The peach and the apricot 50

Gooseberries, currants and juneberries .... 56

Co-terminal fruit-bearing 59

Grapes and brambles 63

How to tell the fruit -buds 66

Summary synopsis of the positions of fruit-
buds . • 74

(v)

VI OUTLINE

CHAPTER III

PAGES

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS . 76-132

The nature of the wound 82

Suggestions to the pruner 95

When to cut the branches 102

Dressings for wounds 109

How to make the cut 114

The mending of trees 116

CHAPTER IV

THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING 133-190

1. Heavy top-pruning produces wood .... 136

2. Heavy root -pruning lessens wood .... 138

3. Heavy top-pruning rejuvenates the plant . 139

4. Pruned plant resumes its normal habit . . 150

5. Habit varies from youth to age 153

6. One part lives at expense of another . . . 154

7. Watersprouts are results of disturbed equi-

librium 155

8. Plants grow from uppermost buds .... 157

9. Heading-in develops lateral buds .... 157

10. Effect of obstructions 161

11. Checking growth induces fruitfulness . . . 162

12. Fruit-bearing is determined by habit . . . 163

13. Girdling and the like are special practices. 167

14. Pruning thins the fruit 174

15. Heading-in induces fruitfulness 180

16. Season of pruning influences fruitfulness. 181

17. Pruning depends upon locality and climate. 185

18. What influences the healing of wounds ? . 189

19. Dressings 190

20. General law . 190

OUTLINE vii

PAKT II
THE INCIDENTALS

CHAPTER V

PAGES

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE 193-340

The form of the top 193

How to trim young plants 205

Root-pruning 227

Root -pruning when transplanting 232

Subsequent treatment of the plants 250

Management of top -worked trees 263

Management of dwarf trees 269

Ringing and girdling 281

Pruning tools 297

Remarks on specific plants 309

Apple 309

Apricot 310

Cherry 313

Orange 314

Peach 315

Pear 319

Plum 320

Quince 322

Blackberries and raspberries 323

Currants and gooseberries 327

Shade trees 333

Hedges 333

Ornamental plants 335

CHAPTER VI

SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING 341-389

European practice 342

Trees and bushes in pots 374

Other special modes of training 384

Vlll OUTLINE

CHAPTER VII

PAGES

AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING— GENERAL SKETCH . . 390-430

Pruning the grape 402

Pruning young vines 411

When to prune 413

Summer pruning 414

Making the trellis 416

Tying 426

CHAPTER VIII

AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING — THE VARIOUS MODES . 431-493

The upright systems 436

Horizontal arm spur system 437

The high renewal 441

Fan training 455

The drooping systems 458

The true or four- cane Kniffin 460

Modifications of the four-cane Kniffin . . . 466

The two-cane Kniffin, or umbrella system . 469

The low, or one -wire Kniffin 472

The six-cane Kniffin 473

Eight-cane Kniffin 474

Caywood, overhead, or arbor Kniffin .... 474

The cross-wire system 477

Renewal Kniffin 478

The Munson system 480

Modified Munson 485

Miscellaneous systems 486

Horizontal training 486

Post training 488

Arbors 490

Remodeling old vines 41) 1

OUTLINE IX

CHAPTER IX

PAGES

VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING 494-530

California practice 494

Proper method of making cuts 498

Short and long -pruning 500

Pruning of young vines 503

Systems of pruning 505

Summer pruning 521

Classification of the varieties 525

Glass-house practice 528

INDEX . 533-537

PART I

THE FUNDAMENTALS

1896

'1895

1894

1. The history of a lilac shoot.

THE PRTJNING-BOOK

CHAPTER I

THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING

A lilac branch is shown in the engraving on
the opposite page (Fig. 1). Its most important
characteristic, — as of any branch, — is the fact that
its various parts are unlike. We must discover
the reasons for these unlikenesses or differences.

The branch is five years old. The dates mark
the termination of the growth of each year.
The terminal growths all grew in 1897. Since
the branches of any year spring from buds which
were formed the previous year,fcswe can determine
the normal method of branching of the lilac by
examining the buds upon the current year's
growths. The branches a and b are each seen
to have five pairs of buds. The buds are on op-
posite sides of the branch. The twig growth
or branching of the lilac, therefore, should be a
successive series of forks; but such is notably not
the case. In other words, the normal method of
branching has not taken place; and the reason is,

2 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING

that not all the branches could develop in the
severe struggle for existence.

The effect of this struggle for existence is to
be seen even in the buds upon the current year's
growths, as on a and 6. The largest and strongest
buds are on the tips, and, as a rule, the buds are
smaller and weaker the nearer one approaches the
base of the shoot. This unequal development of
the buds is undoubtedly associated chiefly with
the amount of sunlight to which the different
parts of the shoot were exposed.

It is further to be observed that the twin ter-
minal buds are not often alike. The difference
is marked at &. It is evident that, if each of
these buds develops a branch, the two branches
will be very unlike.

Let us now trace the history of this interesting
lilac branch. The first growth ended at the point
marked 1893. In 1894, a shoot grew from each
of the terminal buds, and three other shoots
developed. It is noticeable, in the first place,
that the strongest shoots are those arising from
the terminal buds, while the lowest buds developed
no shoots and still remain dormant (s). In the
second place, it is to be observed that no two of
the five branches are alike. Three branches are
strong, but two, m, n, have succumbed in the
struggle for existence, and are now dead. That
is, pruning has begun.

Tracing the strong branch at the right (running

HISTORY OF A BRANCH d

off to 0), it is seen that it grew to 1894 the first
year. The second year it grew to 1895; and in
that year, also, one branch, r, was developed.
It is noticeable, too, that two branches started
from the end of the 1894 growth, but one of
them failed, and only a short stnb now records
the fact. The third year the branch grew to
1896, and a very small branch, q, now dead, was
produced on the growth of 1895. The fourth
year (1897) the branch grew to o, and a single
shoot, p, grew on the growth of 1896. Altogether,
this branch has made forty efforts to produce
branches (that is, forty buds on the growths pre-
vious to 1897, but not all traceable in the illus-
tration), only five of which, r, at 1894, #, jo, and
o have been successful; and of these five branches,
two are dead, and only one, o, seems likely to
persist. That is, in the struggle for existence,
only one effort in forty has been successful.

The large branch on the left, terminating at i,
may now be examined. The first year it grew to
1894. The second year it grew in the direction
?, but that branch died and the year's growth was
lost. The stub or remains of this branch is seen
at I. The third year the branch grew to 1896.
The fourth year (1897) the terminal branch grew
to i, a side branch to j, and another side branch,
now nearly dead, grew to k. The entire branch
(1893 to i) has made over twenty efforts at
branches, four of which efforts were successful,

4 THE PHILOSOPHY OP PRUNING

but two of which, &, Z, are now dead. That is,
two efforts, *', j, out of more than twenty, give
promise of being useful. It is noticeable that
whereas these two branches — terminating at o and
at i — are of the same age, they have developed
in very different size and form.

Without waiting for the details, we may say
that the entire branch in Fig. 1 has made about
one hundred and forty attempts at branches. Of
these attempts, or buds, twenty -four have pro-
duced branches, and of these branches, nine are
already dead. The lessons to be derived from
this study of the lilac branch may be applied to
all plants. They are: (1) there are more efforts
at branches than there are branches; (2) there is,
therefore, severe struggle for existence; (3) the
results are that differences arise and that some
branches die. In other words, plants must and
do prune themselves.

DOES PRUNING DEVITALIZE PLANTS?*

A year ago I read a paper before this Society
upon some of the relations between grafting and
the vitality of the plant [reprinted in The Nursery-
Book, third edition, pp. 82-94] , and it seemed to
me that the sum of the argument showed that
grafting, while often improperly and injudiciously
done, is not of itself a devitalizing or injurious

*Address before the Peninsula Horticultural Society, January, 1893,
and published in the Proceedings of the Society for that year, pp. 43-49.

NATURE OP PRUNING 5

practice. I now ask you to follow a similar argu-
ment with reference to pruning. This subject is,
perhaps, even more important than the other, for
every owner of a fruit tree expects to prune, or
at least he considers the advisability of the opera-
tion. There is the; greatest difference of opinion
as to the merits of particular styles and methods
of pruning, and perhaps equal difference as to
the effect of the operation on the life and health
of the tree. Perhaps every fruit-grower has
observed evil effects to result from pruning, and
many of these observers have reasoned therefrom
that pruning is itself injurious, or at least haz-
ardous. I cannot, of course, uphold nor explain
away the examples of injury which follow prun-
ing. They are patent even'to the casual observer;
but we must not exalt individual instances, how-
ever numerous, into proofs of the perniciousness
of pruning. There should have been at this day
sufficient study and experience to enable us to
pass upon the merits of the practice, as a whole.
It is urgent, also, that the subject be discussed,
for however much of correct teaching may be pro-
mulgated, there is a constantly recurring wave of
error and prejudice. For myself, I am convinced
that pruning, even when somewhat heroic, is not
a devitalizing practice; and in support of this
conviction I shall present arguments from three
sources, — philosophy, plant physiology, and com-
mon experience. I must say at the beginning,

6 THE PHILOSOPHY OP PRUNING

however, that I do not propose to discuss me-
chanical injuries to the trees, as a result of
wounds, for we all know that such injuries are a
result of careless or injudicious pruning. My
proposition is this: Does it injure a plant to
remove a part of it! Is the entire growth of a
plant necessary to its health and longevity?

1. The argument from philosophy. There is
an intense struggle for existence among all or-
ganisms. The world is now full, and there can
probably be no permanent increase in the sum
total of animals and plants. If one species in-
creases, another must decrease. Changes in the
numbers of individuals are, therefore, largely
matters of readjustment between different types.
Each kind is held down to a certain equilibrium
in relation to other kinds. It is easy to see that
any species of animal or plant could completely
occupy the surface of the globe, if it could mul-
tiply to the full extent of its powers. Not only
do some species compete with others, but the
individuals of the same species compete with each
other for standing room. The greater the num-
ber of thistles in a given field, the less is the
opportunity for another thistle plant to gain a
foothold. Now, a tree is essentially a collection
or colony of individual plants. Every branch,
even every joint of the branch, is endeavoring to
do what every other branch does — to bear leaves,
flowers and seeds. Every branch competes with

COMPETITION IN THE TOP 7

every other branch; and there are more germs of
branches — that is, more buds — than there can be
branches upon any tree. So it comes that no two
branches of a tree are exactly alike, but are what
their position or condition makes them to be.
Some are strong and some are weak. That is,
there is no definite or proper size or shape for
any branch, as there is for the different mem-
bers of an animal or flower. The limbs and
organs of an animal are not competitors but co-
partners, each performing some function or office
which another does not, and they all obtain a defi-
nite maturity of size and shape. But a branch
never attains its full size until it ceases to grow
and thereby begins to die. Branches are not or-
gans, but competing individuals. If all these
statements are true, then three conclusions fol-
low: there is struggle for existence amongst the
branches of a tree, and some of the contestants
perish; the destruction of these branchess must
conduce to the betterment of the remaining ones;
all the branches of a tree are not necessary to
it, but some of them may be a detriment to it.
In other words, pruning is a necessity.

Two years ago a wild black cherry tree came
up near my door. The first year, it sent up a
single straight shoot nineteen inches high, which
produced twenty -seven buds and one branchlet
eight inches long. This branchlet bore twelve
buds. At the end of the first season, therefore,

"
lUNlVERSITY

& THE PHILOSOPHY OP PRITNIN&

the little tree had produced a total of thirty -nine
buds, one branchlet, and twenty -seven inches of
growth. The second year, 1892, nineteen of these
thirty -nine buds produced branches and twenty-
did not start. These nineteen branches made a
total growth of 231 inches, and produced 370
buds. The terminal branch or shoot grew thirty-
six inches long. Here, then, is a little tree two
years old and four and one -half feet high which
has made an effort to bear 409 branches. It is
plain that more than ninety per cent of these
efforts must be futile. Many of the buds will
not start, but the tree now has a total of twenty-
seven branches and subdivisions as a result of
its first year's growth; if it makes a proportional
number this year from the growth of 1892, it will
bear 216 branches at the close of 1893 and will
have made a total effort of about 3,500 branch -
germs or buds. This little tree will undergo a
severe pruning in the coming years, although a
knife does not touch it.*

But the natural thinning of the top will con-
tinue in geometrical ratio as long as the tree
grows; and after a time this pruning will become
more severe, for larger branches will be sacrificed.
Probably less than a fifth of the buds upon any
tree ever make branches, and less than a fifth of
the branches persist. The greater part of these

"The subsequent history of this cherry tree, and record of its tragic
death, may be found in "The Survival of the Unlike," pp. 88, 89.

INSTRUCTIVE CHERRY TREES 9

branches die before they come to bearing age, no
doubt, but some of them perish after they have
attained to a considerable size. A forest tree
grows a tall, straight bole because the side branches
are lopped roff; and the more vigorous this prun-
ing, the taller and stronger the tree becomes.

Another black cherry tree, two years old, found
in the woods, is shown in Fig. 2. The first year
it grew from the ground to «, and it bore buds at
regular intervals, — about two dozen of them.
The second year, the terminal bud sent out a
shoot to 5, and thirteen lateral buds gave rise to
branches. Of these thirteen lateral branches,
obviously only three stand any chance of living
in the dense shade of the forest. In fact, four
or five of the lowest twigs were dead when the
picture was made; showing that the struggle for
existence does not always result from competition
among fellows, but may arise from the crowding
of other plants.

These three strong branches in Fig. 2 are less
than four feet from the ground, but other old
cherry trees standing near it had no branches
within fifteen and twenty feet of the ground.
They no doubt branched low down, as this one,
but the branches eventually died in the struggle;
and we therefore have reason to conclude that of
all the branches on this little tree, only the ter-
minal one, b, can long survive. One has only to
look on the forest floor to see how freely trees

2. The curious history of
wild cherry tree.

3. Upright habit of the
sweet cherry.

RECORDS IN TREE TOPS

have shed their twigs. The trunk of a tree, then,

is the remainder in a long problem of subtraction.

A young tree of the sweet garden cherry is

4. Diffuse habit of the sour cherry.

shown in Fig. 3, and one of the Morello or pie
cherry in Fig. 4. In the former, the terminal
growths are strong, and the leader, or central
trunk, has persisted. The latter has long since

12 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING

lost its leader, and the side growths are strong.
Let the reader now figure out how many buds
have perished (or at least failed to make perma-
nent branches) in each of these trees, if they are
supposed to be seven years old. Any garden
cherry tree will give him the probable number of
buds to each annual growth. Even without the
figures, it is evident that there are very many
more failures than successes in any tree top.

So every tree is a record of defeats and dis-
asters in order that the stronger parts may live.
It is safe to conclude that if nature is such a
searching and undogmatic primer, man may
prune, too. Those persons who declaim that
pruning is unnatural, should be taken into a
neglected orchard and be made to see what has
transpired in the tree tops.

I may be met here with the criticism that arti-
ficial pruning is excessive ; but I answer that
it is not different in kind from natural pruning,
and that it is fully warranted by the different ob-
jects in view. The ultimate object of nature is
the production of seeds, and the more viable
seeds produced, the better. Many small fruits,
therefore, are desired. Man covets the fleshy
portion of the fruit, or some other character
which is of minor importance to the plant. He
must, therefore, thin the plant rigorousty, — re-
duce the struggle for existence — in order that
size and quality may come before number. He

THE VITALITY OF THE PLANT 13

simply deflects the energy into another channel.
2. The argument from plant physiology is
equally important. It is a common assertion
that cutting off a limb is an injury because it
removes a given amount of tissue in the pro-
duction of which the plant expended effort ;
that is, that pruning exhausts the plant. This
statement assumes that a plant has a certain
fixed vitality, from which a given amount is
withdrawn whenever a portion of the plant is
cut away. I might illustrate this by supposing
that a plant has an initial vitality represented
by the figure 10 ; then, if one- tenth of the top
is removed, there is left a vitality of 9. But
this assumption is wholly gratuitous. The vi-
tality of a plant is very largely determined by
the conditions under which it grows — the charac-
ter of the soil and treatment ; and, I may add,
that as plants have no nerves, they cannot die
of shock, as we sometimes hear it said. Every
fruit-grower knows that two trees of the same
initial vigor may differ widely from each other
in thrift and healthfulness at the expiration of
five years, if given different soil and care. If
the plant is very largely what its food supply
and other environments make it to be, if it is
constantly renewed and augmented, then the
removal of a portion of it cannot destroy its
vitality unless the removal is so great as to
interfere with the nutrition of the remaining

14 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING

parts. It may be replied that the tissue, the
wood, which is removed in large limbs, might
have been saved to the tree by directing it into
other parts of the top by means of earlier prun-
ing. This may be true ; but I must contend
that this saving would have resulted only in an
economy of time by building up the other parts
earlier in the lifetime of the tree, and not in an
economy of vitality, for vitality is constantly
renewed.

It may be a question if we really save a pro-
portionate amount of time by early pruning ;
that is, whether we can direct the same amount
of growth into the remaining portions of the
plant by pruning very early in its lifetime
as we can by pruning when the superfluous
branches have attained some size and have, per-
haps, begun to bear. There is an exact balance
between the feeding capacity of the plant — that is,
its root-system and food supply — and the super-
ficial growth of the plant. The more active
and efficient the root, the larger the top. If we
remove a large portion of this top, there is an
endeavor to supply the deficiency by an exceed-
ingly rapid growth. So pruned plants are nearly
always more vigorous than unpruned ones, be-
cause of the concentration of a somewhat con-
stant food supply into a smaller number of
branches. Therefore, pruning must have much
the same effect as manuring. The stimulating

PRUNING INCREASES VIGOR 15

effect of this new growth, or new disposition
of energy, must be felt upon the root- system
also ; and I can conceive that it is a point for
discussion as to whether this stimulus and re-
sponse to new conditions may not be greater
when the pruning is somewhat heroic than when
it is so evenly distributed over the lifetime of
the tree as to be imperceptible. Growth is cer-
tainly more emphatic following a heroic pruning,
but it may not be greater in sum than that
which follows several prunings of equal aggre-
gate severity. My own observation and experi-
ence lead me to believe that annual pruning of
all fruit trees is desirable, but I am equally con-
vinced that it does not pay, either in cost of
pruning or in good to the tree, to cut out all
the superfluous twigs at each pruning. These
superfluous twigs can often be left until they
are two or three or even four years old with
advantage. Although stimulating effects may
result from the considerable unbalance of the
plant when many branches are removed, these
superfluous and unpruned twigs often afford a
very useful shelter or sun -screen to the inner
parts of the top, and they lessen the danger of
over -pruning, by which the nutrition of the tree
may be injured.

I have said that pruning increases vigor. Two
trees of Siberian Crab were set near my house
in the spring of 1890. These trees are as near

16 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING

alike as any two apple trees which I have ever
seen, and they stand only twenty -five feet apart.
I measured the growth of 1891 on one of
these trees and found it to have been 745
inches. The tree was then thoroughly pruned
(February 17), and this pruning removed 460
inches of wood, of which 432 inches was new-
wood. The total weight of this wood was seven
and three-eighths ounces. The other tree was
not pruned. During 1892, the unpruned tree
produced 118 new twigs, with a total length of
1,758 inches, while the pruned tree produced
120 new twigs and made a total growth of 1,926
inches. The pruned tree, therefore, made 14
feet more growth than the other, which is a
large proportion for a tree only three years set ;
and the growth was stouter upon this tree, also.
In other words, a% tree from which about forty
feet of branches had been cut bore at the end
of a single season fourteen feet more wood than
a similar tree which had not been pruned.
Aside from the greater growth which this prun-
ing induced, the experiment shows — in common
with all similar ones — that it is impossible, as I
have already said, to injure trees by what is
called a shock. It is often said that the time
of the year when pruning is performed influences
the amount of growth. It is said that pruning
in winter makes wood and pruning in summer
makes fruit. It is certainly true that winter

NUTRITION 17

pruning makes more wood in the current year
than summer pruning, because the season's growth
is nearly or quite completed when the summer
pruning is performed ; but beyond this state-
ment it is not the purpose to venture at this
point (see Section 16, Chapter IV.).

I have said that pruning, of itself, cannot be
injurious so long as it does not interfere with
the nutrition of the plant. It is important,
therefore, that I explain how this interference
occurs. A plant derives a certain portion of its
food from the soil in the shape of soluble inor-
ganic materials. These materials ascend to the
leaves through the young wood, and become
associated with organized compounds like starch
and sugar. These organized compounds are used
in the repair and growth of all parts of the
plant, and they are, therefore, distributed to
the leaves, twigs, trunk and roots. The growth
of the roots is, therefore, largely determined by
the amount and vigor of the top or leaf-bearing
portion. The removal of the greater part of the
top may interfere, therefore, with the vigor of
the plant by preventing the supply of a sufficient
amount of elaborated food. This difficulty is
sometimes experienced in the girdling or ringing
of grape-vines, which prevents the distribution of
the elaborated plant -foods to the roots. It
should be said, however, that the grape is
pruned the most severely of all fruits, and it is,

18 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING

therefore, easy to overstep the danger line ; and
yet it is strange that while certain writers dis-
parage the pruning of trees they do not object
to the common pruning of the vine. In fruit
trees the instances of injurious interference with
nutrition by pruning are rare, and they need not
be further considered here. This is proved by
the good results which so often follow the heroic
treatment of top -grafted trees.

But, you want to say, if pruning is not devital-
izing, if the removal of strong branches induces
more vigorous growth in the remaining ones,
and if there is little danger of disturbing the
nutrition of the tree, it must follow that there
can be no objection to the removal of large
branches. I cannot agree to this inference, al-
though I am willing to say that the removal of
such branches may not be objectionable so far as
direct injury or shock to the vitality of the tree
is concerned. But there are important reasons
why large branches should not be removed. Such
pruning exposes dangerous wounds, it is apt to
open the tree so much that some of the remaining
parts scald and borers obtain a foothold, it may
despoil the symmetry or convenience of the tree,
and such branches may represent a certain amount
of energy which should have been earlier directed
elsewhere; and aside from all this, the cutting
away of very large branches often indicates a lack
of enterprise and forethought on the part of the

TESTIMONY OF EXPERIENCE 19

grower, and suggests the feeling that he may be
remiss in all his operations. But while I dis-
courage the removal of branches three and four
inches in diameter, I must repeat that it is not
because I consider such practice a devitalizing
one. And I should much prefer the removal of
such large branches to total neglect. I have my-
self removed many such branches ten and fifteen
years ago from apple trees which are to-day in
most perfect health and vigor.

3. If philosophy and physiology show that
pruning is not a devitalizing process, common
experience affords still stronger proof. One of
the commonest absurdities in our horticultural
literature is the admonition to prune only with a
knife, thereby avoiding the cutting of large limbs,
while there is not an orchardist in the country
who practices this advice if he prunes thoroughly.
If scientific teaching and permanently successful
practice are opposed, then the teaching is wrong.
I am afraid that some of our accepted teaching
on the subject of pruning will not stand the
test of time. I have frequently observed that
well pruned trees live as long as those unpruned,
and I am inclined to believe that they may live
longer ; and they produce more during their
lifetime.

But suppose that pruning is a devitalizing
process — what then? Even then we could not
afford to discontinue it. The gains in size and

20 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING

quality of fruit, in ease of cultivation and spray-
ing of the plants, are advantages which progressive
horticulture can never forego. Advise a grape-
grower to discontinue pruning !

It appears to be safe to conclude, from the
foregoing considerations, that pruning is a legiti-
mate practice, finding warrant in wild plants, in
physiology and in the experience of centuries.
It is not of itself, as ordinarily performed, a
devitalizing practice, while its advantages are
several and important. There is abundant op-
portunity for improvement in methods, and every
plant needs a particular treatment, and perhaps
some species or varieties demand little, if any,
thinning ; but as a whole, pruning is indispensable
to successful horticulture.

CHAPTER II

THE FRUIT -BUD

Since one of the objects of pruning is to secure
more and better fruit, it is very important that
the reader know what the fruit -buds are and upon
what part of the plant they are produced. The
best way of gaining this knowledge is to examine
the plants in company with a competent instruc-
tor ; but since the author can produce neither of
these requisites, the reader must be content, for
the time, to look at pictures and to read about
them. The book will explain a few type examples,
and will suggest methods of inquiry. It is hoped,
however, that as soon as the page becomes dull,
the reader will betake himself to the tree, and
there obtain his knowledge first hand; but if he
should complain that the book and the tree do
not always tell the same story, the author will
declare that the observer did not see what he
looked at.

Without further parley, let us look at the
plants.*

*Parts of these observations are adapted from the author's "Lessons
with Plants."

(21)

22 THE FRUIT -BUD

THE BUD AND THE BRANCH

A twig cut from an apple tree in early spring
is shown in Fig. 5. The most hasty observation
shows that it has various parts or members. It
seems to be divided at the point / into two parts.
It is evident that the portion from f to h grew
last year, and that the portion below / grew two
years ago. The buds upon the two parts are very
unlike, and these differences challenge investi-
gation.

In order to understand this seemingly lifeless
twig, it will be necessary to see it as it looked
late last summer (and this condition is shown in
Fig. 6). The portion from /to h, — which has
just completed its growth, — is seen to have only
one leaf in a place. In every axil (or angle which
the leaf makes when it joins the shoot) is a bud.
The leaf starts first, and as the season advances
the bud forms in its axil. When the leaves have
fallen, at the approach of winter, the buds re-
main, as seen in Fig. 5. Every bud on the last
year's growth of a winter twig, therefore, marks
the position occupied by a leaf when the shoot
was growing.

The portion below /, in Fig. 6, shows a wholly
different arrangement. The leaves are two or
more together (a a a a), and there are buds without
leaves (bbbbj. A year ago this portion looked
like the present shoot from / to h, — that is, the

5. An apple twig.

Same twig before leaves fell.

THE FRUIT -BUD

leaves were single, with a bud in the axil of each.
It is now seen that some of these bud -like parts
are longer than others, and that the longest ones

7. Present year's shoot of apple.

are those which have leaves. It must be because
of the leaves that they have increased in length.
The body c has lost its leaves through some acci-
dent, and its growth has ceased. In other words,
the parts akaaaa are like the shoot / h, except
that they are shorter, and they are of the same
age. One grows from the end or terminal bud

BUDS AND BRANCHES 25

of the main branch, and the others from the side
or lateral buds. Parts or bodies which bear leaves
are, therefore, branches.

The buds at b b b b have no leaves, and they
remain the same size that they were a year ago.
They are dormant. The only way for a mature
bud to grow is by making leaves for itself, for a
leaf will never stand below it again. The twig,
therefore, has buds of two ages, — those at b b b b

Last year's shoot of apple.

are two seasons old, and those on the tips of all
the branches (a a a a, hj, and in the axil of
every leaf, are one season old. It is only the ter-
minal buds which are not axillary. Buds are
buds only so long as they remain dormant. When
the bud begins to grow and to put forth leaves,
it gives rise to a branch, which, in its turn, bears
buds.

It will now be interesting to determine why
certain buds gave rise to branches and why others
remained dormant. The strongest shoot or branch
of the year is the terminal on&-££-&yL_ The next

IVKRSITY \

t ~

26 THE FRUIT -BUD

in strength is the uppermost lateral one, and the
weakest shoot is at the base of the twig. The
dormant buds are on the under side (for the twig
grew 'in a horizontal position). All this suggests
that those buds grew which had the best chance, —
the most sunlight and room. There were too
many buds for the space, and in the struggle for
existence those which had the best opportunities
made the largest growths. This struggle for
existence began a year ago, however, when the
buds upon the shoot below / were forming in
the axils of the leaves, for the buds near the tip
of the shoot grew larger and stronger than those
near its base. The growth of one year, there-
fore, is very largely determined by the conditions
under which the buds were formed the previous
year.

All these remarks are still further illustrated by
Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 7 is the current year's growth
of apple. The leaves are placed singly, and there
is a single bud in the axil of each. (The two
awl -like bodies at the base of each leaf are
stipules, or appendages of the leaves.) Fig. 8
is a shoot a year older than the other. Four
buds were formed in the axils of as many leaves
in the previous year; one of these buds is dor-
mant, but the other three have produced short,
leafy branches. Any tree or shrub will show the
same differences between the two last annual
growths.

STUDIES OF FRUIT -BEARING 27

THE LEAF-BUD AND THE FRUIT-BUD

Another apple branch is shown in Fig. 9. It
seems to have no slender last year's growth, as
Figs. 5 and 6 have at / h. It, therefore, needs
special attention. It is first seen that the "ring"
marking the termination of a year's growth is at
a. There are dormant buds at b b. The twig
above a must be more than one year old, however,
because it bears short lateral branches at e e. If
these branchlets are themselves a year old (as
they appear to be), then the 'portion / g must be
a similar branch, and the twig itself fa fj must
be two years old. The ring marking the termina-
tion of the growth of year before last is, therefore,
at /. In other words, a twig is generally a year
older than its oldest branches.

The buds c c (Fig. 9) are larger than the dor-
mant buds Cb bj. That is, they have grown; and
if they have grown, they are really branches, and
leaves were borne upon their little axes in the
season just past. The branchlets d d d are larger
(possibly because the accompanying leaves were
more exposed to light) , and e e and g are still
larger. For some reason the growth of this twig
was checked last year, and all the branches re-
mained short. We find, in other words, that there
is no necessary length to which a branch shall
grow, but that its length is dependent upon local
or seasonal conditions.

10. Opening of flower-bud
of apple.

9. Formation of
fruit-buds.

11. Opening leaf -buds of
crab-apple.

STUDIES OF FRUIT -BEARING 29

There are other and more important differences
in this shoot. The buds terminating the branches
(e e g) are larger and less pointed than the others
are. If they were to be watched as growth be-
gins in the spring, it would be seen that they
give rise to both flowers and leaves (Fig. 10),
while the other buds give leaves only (Fig. 11).
In other words, there are two general kinds
or types of buds, fruit -buds (that is, flower-
buds) and leaf -buds ; and checking the growth
induces fruitfulness.

If the buds on the ends of the branchlets e e g
produce flowers, the twig cannot increase in
length; for an apple is invariably borne on the
end of a branch (which is often so short as to be
called a spur) , and therefore no terminal bud can
form there. If growth takes place on the twig
next year, therefore, it must arise from one of
the lower or leaf -buds. The buds terminating the
branchlets d d d will stand the best chance of
continuing the growth of the twig, for they are
the largest and strongest, and are most exposed to
sunlight. These failing, the opportunity will fall
to one or both of c c; and these failing, the long-
waiting dormant buds may find their chance to
grow. The reader should see these dormant
buds for himself. In other words, there are
more buds upon any twig than are needed, but
there is, thereby, a provision against emer-
gencies.

THE FRUIT -BUD

THE FRUIT-SPUR AS ILLUSTRATED BY
THE APPLE

We have now found (Figs. 9, 10, 11) that there
are two kinds of buds, the leaf -buds, and the
fruit -buds (or flower -buds). Some of these fruit-

The fruit-spur and leaf-spur.

buds on the apple tree terminate short branches
(e e </, Fig. 9), but now and then one is borne
on the end of the axial shoot of the season. Fig.
12 is an apple twig as it looks in late summer and
in winter. Several dormant buds are seen on the
lower part. At a and "b are short branches. The
branch 5 has made a small and pointed bud, which
is evidently to bear only leaves next year, while

ALTERNATION IN FRUIT - BEARING 31

the stronger branch ( a) has made a thick and
rounded bud, which is to bear flowers. This
fruit -bud is shown natural size at a a. The short
lateral branches are called spurs, in distinction
from the longer axial growths. We have already
found (page 29) that checking growth induces

13. Formation of the lateral bud on the fruit-spur.

fruitfulness, but on the other hand, starving or
greatly weakening the growth generally gives only
a weak leaf -bud.

When fruits or flowers are borne on the end of
a spur, the direction of the subsequent growth is
necessarily changed. Fig. 13 is a bearing spur
of apple. While the apple is growing from the
terminal bud, a lateral bud (a) is forming to con-
tinue the spur the next year. The same thing is
illustrated in Fig. 14. This side bud (a, Fig. 13)

32 THE FRUIT -SPUR

is, therefore, a leaf -bud, for it must be the means
of continuing the growth of the spur, and it is
not likely to get nourishment enough, — seeing
that the apple is the chief concern, — to enable it
to develop into a blossom -bud. There is, there-
fore, an alternation of fruit -bearing buds and

14. Fruit-spur bearing a mature apple, remains of the flowers

which failed to set, and the bud which is to continue

the growth of the spur.

non- fruit -bearing buds in the spur of an apple
tree ; and this is true of most fruit trees.

A twig of Siberian crab apple, taken in spring,
is shown in Fig. 15. Year before last, each of
the spurs developed a fruit -bud at its summit,
and last year each of these spurs bore flowers.
The proof of this is seen in the scars left by the
flower stems at a a. None of these flowers de-
veloped into ripe fruits, otherwise some of the

FRUIT -SPURS OF APPLE

scars would have been much larger than they are.
It was probably for that very reason, — the failure

of the fruit,—
that the spurs

• were able to

^ throw out leafy
shoots nearly

or quite an inch long, to continue
the growth. Yet, even then, no
fruit -bud developed on the ends
of these spurs, for the small
pointed ends clearly indicate leaf-
buds. It is seen, therefore, that
there may be an alternation in
the fruit -spur, even when the
spur does not bear fruit.

To still further elucidate the
formation of fruit-buds on the
apple, and to recapitulate some
of the foregoing observations, let
us trace the history of given
branches in detail.*

One of these twigs (Fig. 16)
was taken from a strong young
15. Spurs of a tree> which bore its first good
crab-apple. crop of apples last year. This

*This account of these three apple twigs is adapted from the author's
leaflet entitled "Four Apple Twigs," issued as a nature-study suggestion
by the College of Agriculture of the Cornell University, 1896-7. This
leaflet (and also "Lessons with Plants") contains the detailed his-
tory of an older and more complicated branch.

34 THE FRUIT -SPUR

simple twig is plainly of . two years' growth, for
the "ring" between the old and new wood is
seen at B. The main stem from the base to B
grew in 1895 (the picture was made in January,
1897), and the part from B to the tip grew in
1896. The buds on these two parts look very
unlike. Let us see what these differences mean.

We must now picture to ourselves how this
shoot from B to 10 looked last summer while it
was growing. The shoot bore leaves, one below
each bud; or, to be more exact, one bud developed
just above each leaf. These buds did not put out
leaves. They grew to their present size and then
stopped (see fh, Fig. 6).

What are these buds of the tip shoot propos-
ing to do in 1897? We can answer this question
by going back one year and seeing what the buds
on the lower (or older) part of the shoot did in
1896, as we did in Figs. 5 and 6. Upon that
part (below B) the buds seem to have increased
in size. Therefore, they must have grown last
year. There were no leaves borne below these
buds in 1896, but a cluster of leaves came out of
each bud in the spring. As these leaves expanded
and grew, the little bud grew on; that is, each
bud grew into a tiny branch, and when fall came
each of these branches had a bud on its end to
continue the growth in the year to come. What
we took to be simple buds at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, are
therefore little branches (compare Fig, 9).

A two-year-old shoot from a
young apple tree.
Half size.

17. A three-year-old
shoot and fruit-spurs.
Half size.

36 THE FRUIT -SPUR

But the strangest part of this twig has not yet
been seen, — the branches are of different sizes,
and three of them (7, 8, 9) have so far out-
stripped the others that they seem to be of a dif-
ferent kind. It should be noticed, too, that the
very lowermost bud (at 1) never grew at all, but
remained perfectly dormant during the entire
year 1896. It will be seen, then, that the dor-
mant bud and the smallest branches are on the
lower part of the shoot, and the three strong
branches are at the very tip of the last year's
growth.

If, now, we picture the twig as it looked in the
fall of 1895, we will see that it consisted of a
single shoot, terminating at B. It had a large
terminal bud (like those at 7, 8, 9, 10), and
this bud pushed on into a branch in 1896, and
three other buds near the tip did the same
thing.

Some of these branches grew to be larger
than others because of more sunlight and more
room on this outward or upward end. In
1897, — if this shoot had been spared, — each of
these four largest twigs (7, 8, 9, 10) would have
done the same thing as the parent twig did in
1896 : each would have pushed on from its end,
and one or two or three other strong branches
would probably have started from the strong
side buds near the tips, the very lowest buds
would, no doubt, have remained perfectly in-

FRUIT -SPURS OF APPLE 37

active or dormant for lack of opportunity, and
the intermediate buds would have made short
branches like 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. In other words,
the tree always tries to grow onward from its tips,
and these tip shoots eventually become strong
branches, unless some of them die in the struggle
for existence. What, now, becomes of the little
branches lower down!

From another apple tree the twig shown in Fig.
17 was taken. We see at once that it is very
unlike the other. It seems to be two years old,
one year's growth extending from the base up to
7, and the last year's growth extending from 7 to
8 ; but we shall see upon looking closer that this
is not so. The short branchlets at 3, 4, 5, 7 are
very different from those in Fig. 16. They seem
to be broken off. The fact is that the broken
ends show where apples were borne in 1896. The
branchlets that bore them, therefore, must have
grown in 1895, and the main branch, from 1 to 7,
grew in 1894. It is plain, from the looks of the
buds, that the shoot from 7 to 8 grew during
the year 1896.

Starting from the base, then, we have the main
twig growing in 1894; the small side branches
growing in 1895; these little branches bearing
apples in 1896, and the terminal shoot also grow-
ing in 1896. Why was there no terminal shoot
growing in 1895? Simply because its tip de-
veloped a fruit -bud (at 7), and therefore could not

38 THE FRUIT -SPUR

send out a branch ; for there are two kinds of
buds, — the small, pointed leaf -bud and the thic£,
blunt fruit -bud. If the branchlets, 3, 4, 5, 7, are
two years old, the dormant buds — 1, 2 — must be
the same age. That is, for two long years these
little buds have been waiting for some bug to eat
off ,the buds and leaves above, or some accident
to break the shoot beyond, so that they might
have a chance to grow; but they have waited in
vain.

We have now found, therefore, that the little
side shoots upon apple twigs may become fruit-
branches or fruit -.spurs, while the more ambitious
branches above them are making a display of
stem and leaves.

But will these fruit -spurs bear fruit again in
1897? No. The bearing of an apple is hard
work, and these spurs did not have enough vi-
tality left to make fruit-buds for the next year;
but they must perpetuate themselves, so that they
have sent out small side buds, which will bear a
cluster of leaves and grow into another little spur
in 1897, and in that year these new spurs will
make fruit -buds for bearing in 1898. The side
bud is plainly seen on spur 5, also on spur 4,
while spur 7 has sown a seed, so to speak, in the
bud at 6. It is, therefore, plain why the tree
bears every other year (see page 32, Figs. 13, 14).

There was one tree in the orchard from which
the farmer had not picked his apples. Perhaps

FRUIT -BEARING OF APPLE 39

the apples were not worth picking. At any rate,
the dried apples, shriveled and brown, hang on
the twigs in midwinter, and even the birds do not
seem to care for them. One of these twigs is
drawn in Fig. 18. Let us see how many apples
this twig has borne. We can tell by the square-
cut scars. An apple was once borne at 1, another

18. A fruit-spur -svhich

has borne six apples.

Half size.

at 2, another at 4, another at 5, another at 6,
and another at 7, — and at 7 there will be a scar
when the apple falls. Six apples this modest
shoot has borne! We may speculate how many
of them got ripe, or how many were taken by the
worms, or urchins.

A curious thing happened when the fruit was
growing at 2. Two side buds started out, instead
of one, and both of them grew the next year.
But one of the little branchlets fell sick and died,
or a bug nipped off its end, or it starved to death;
and the grave is still marked by the little stick

40 THE FRUIT -SPUR

standing at 3. The other branchlet thrived, and
eventually bore apples at 4, 5, 6 and 7.

We have found that these fruit -spurs bear only
every other year; then, if this branch has borne
six apples, it must be twelve years old. The
truth is that it is about twenty years old, for
some years it failed to bear; but the age cannot
be traced in the picture, although it could be
made out from the branch itself.

THE FRUIT-SPUR AS ILLUSTRATED BY
THE PEAR

An old fruit -spur of a pear tree is shown in Fig.
19. One year it grew from the base to a, and
there formed a fruit -bud. Let us suppose that
this year was 1880. In 1881, a pear matured from
this bud, as may be seen by the large scar at a.
In this year, also, a lateral bud developed. In
1882, this bud gave rise to a shoot. The "rings"
whence it started are plainly seen at a a. It is
noticeable, also, that the spur ceased to grow in
the direction a. In this year, 1882, the shoot
grew to the rings b b, and there developed a fruit-
bud. In 1883, this fruit -bud opened and pro-
duced flowers, one of which bore fruit, as shown
by the large scar (bj. The short growth from
b b to b is that which took place in the elongation
from the bud in this spring of 1883. While this
fruit was developing, a leaf -spur pushed out from
just below the fruit (bj, and grew to the next

FRUIT -SPURS OF PEAR

series of rings (c c) . A weaker bud also de-
veloped, which in 1884 pushed toward c. The
six years' growths can be traced on this side
shoot, and it once made a
flower -bud, and a fruit set
at c; but the small size of
the scar shows that the fruit
never attained maturity. It
probably fell in very early
summer. It is apparent that
there is an alternation in the
fruit -bearing of the pear, as
in that of the apple; from
this we may infer that there
is something like an alter-
nation of effort, or division
of labor, in the successive
growths of many plants.

The further history of this
interesting pear spur (Fig.
19 ) may be summarized as fol-
lows: 1884, the barren shoot
grew to e e, and made a fruit-
bud; 1885, pear borne and
carried to maturity at e, two
side buds developing, and also

two weaker spurs at d and d d, — giving four
chances of continuing the growth of the main
spur; 1886, the spurs d and d d remained small
and slender, but one of the upper branches grew

Old spur of
pear.

42 THE FRUIT -BUD

on to g and there made a fruit -bud, while its
twin bud (upon the left) did not elongate; 1887,
fruit borne at g, but it did not mature (as shown
by the small size of the scar) , and the spur con-
tinued to h, and there made another fruit -bud;
the twin bud now pushed on to / and made a
fruit -bud, and the spurs d and d d are alive, but
evidently doomed soon to perish; 1888, fruits
were borne at / and h (the bearing year having

20. An old pear spur

been changed), but neither of them matured, the
side spurs pushed on to // and Ji h, and an at-
tempt was made at fruit -bearing at d; 1889, all
shoots elongated and all end in leaf -buds, show-
ing that the change in the bearing year had in-
terfered with the normal development, for this
should have been the year of fruit. Our spur,
therefore, is ten years old; it has borne good
fruits three times, and has made five unsuccess-
ful attempts at fruit -bearing; some of the
branches are too weak for further usefulness;

FRUIT -BEARING OF PEAR 43

and dormant buds still remain on the old wood
near its base.

The struggle for existence in an old pear spur
is still further illustrated in Fig. 20. On five of
the strongest and upturned branchlets there are
fruit-buds. Some of the branchlets terminate in
the small and pointed leaf -buds, and some are
dead. If the reader has become expert in read-
ing the histories of twigs, he may find in this
picture the records of ten efforts at the bearing
of pears.

Another pear twig is drawn in Fig. 21. In
1895, a pear was borne at a, and in that year
two side buds were developed (as they have
formed in Figs. 13 and 14). In 1896, these two
buds gave rise to branches or spurs, each of
which developed a fruit-bud at its end, & c. It
was on the 17th of April, 1897, that the picture
was made. Three weeks later all the buds had
burst (Fig. 22). Buds 6, c, d, e, produced flow-
ers, and / made only a feeble effort at leaves.
That is, all but one of the buds are fruit-buds.
In July, however, the branch looked like Fig. 23.
Although several flowers had been produced by
each of the four fruit -buds, only one flower in
the bud b and another in c persisted and set fruit.

Another twig upon this same pear tree was
drawn (Fig. 24) upon the 17th of April, 1897.
There are three thick, rounded buds which are
evidently fruit -buds. They terminate spurs which

21. Twig of a Bartlett pear

23. The filial result.

FRUIT -BEARING OF PEAR 45

spring from the top of the growth of 1895. That
is, the spurs grew and developed fruit -buds in
the season of 1896. On the 4th of May, the twig

24. Three fruit-spurs of pears.

looked as in Fig. 25. The three buds had pro-
duced flowers, only one of which still persists,
and even that soon fell. No fruits were pro-

25. The sequel.

duced. The buds were too weak to set fruit,
although they produced blossoms.

Still another pear twig is seen in Fig. 26. It
is evident that only the lowest bud is a fruit -bud.

THE FRUIT -BUD

The others are too small to be fruit -buds. In
May the twig was drawn again (Fig. 27).

THE FRUIT-SPUR AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE
PLUM AND CHERRY

A spur from a plum tree is shown in Fig. 28.
If we begin with the tip of the shoot, we deter-
mine that last year's growth began at c, the pre-

26. Leaf-spurs and a
fruit-spur of pear.

27. The sequel.

vious year's at ft, and the preceeding year's at
a. The lower side spur has grown to a a, then
to & 6, then to the end. It will be seen that the

FRUIT -BEARING OF PLUM

28. Fruit-spur of plum.

29. Spur of Lombard plum.

buds and side spurs are borne usually near the
ends of the growths, but the many scars show
that buds were once present on the lower or
older parts, but have perished in the struggle
for existence. The spur differs greatly from

OF THK

UNIVERSITY

THE FRUIT - BUD

those of the pear, in the fact that the buds are
in twos or threes rather than single. It is diffi-

30. Spur of Satsumaplum. 31. Buds and spurs of cherry.

cult to distinguish which are leaf-buds and
which fruit -buds. The character of the buds is
to be determined from their positions rather
than from their shapes. The first point to

FRUIT -BEARING OF PLUM

Cherry spurs.

notice in determining which are leaf-buds and
which fruit -buds is the direction of growth of
the entire spur. The
pear spur (Fig. 19)
is crooked and forked'
because the fruit-
buds are terminal ;
if, therefore, the plum
spur is straight or
continuous in growth,

it is because the terminal buds are leaf -buds.
The side buds may therefore be inferred to be
fruit-buds. The reader should examine a plum

tree in either flower or
fruit 'for further light
upon this point; and
from all his observations
he will be able to satisfy
himself that there are at
least two general types
of spurs upon fruit
trees, — with termi-
nal fruit -buds and
terminal leaf -buds.
The fruit -bearing
of the common plum
is further illustrated
in Fig. 29, which

shows the growths of the two last years. The
last season's growth is from a to e, and upon

The same spurs in May.

50 THE FRUIT -BUD

this part there are no fruit -buds. The second
year's growth, below a, bears many fruit -spurs,
each of which has several fruit -buds, thus ex-
plaining how it is that plums are borne in dense
clusters. It is noticeable that the strongest spurs
are nearest the top of the two years' growth,
where more sunlight was received.

A spur of a Japanese plum, Fig. 30, shows
clustered fruit -buds. A single smaller leaf -bud
is in the center of each cluster. Japanese plums
also bear from twin fruit -buds on the last year's
growth, in the way of the peach and apricot.

A twig of Morello cherry is shown in Fig. 31.
It is of two years' growth. The division between
the two years is seen between 2 and 3. Above
this division, the buds are single and in the
axils of leaves ; below it, they are clustered
on spurs. The rounded buds on these spurs,
1, 2, are fruit -buds. Fig. 32 shows two cherry
spurs, one a leaf -spur and the other a fruit-
spur. The four large buds on the fruit- spur
are flower -buds ; the central one is a leaf -bud.
Fig. 33 shows how the same spurs look when
they have burst into growth.

THE PEACH AND THE APRICOT

The next picture (Fig. 34) shows a twig cut
from a peach tree in spring (or winter). It is
two seasons old, as shown by the ring at a, and

FRUIT -BEARING OF PEACH 51

by the different buds upon the two parts.
Upon the older portions there are dormant buds;
there are also curious angular bodies at e e e.
We understand what the dormant buds mean,
but the other bodies demand explanation. They
are not growing branches, because they have no
buds. The truncate or squared ends are scars.
These cannot be leaf -scars, because no buds are
left above them (and we have found that buds
grow in the axils of leaves). They must, then,
be fruit -scars (or flower -scars).

If we could have seen this twig (below a) in
the spring of last year, a piece of it would have
looked like Fig. 35. Three buds are borne to-
gether, the two lateral ones (which are evidently
fruit -buds) being large and thick. If it were
the habit of the peach to bear three leaf -buds
together, the method of branching of the peach
tree would tend to be by threes, but we know that
this is not the fact. We know that these objects
a a are not spurs (or branches), because the leaf-
scar is visible below each one. That is, they are
normal buds, formed the previous year in the axils
of leaves. If we could go back to this previous
year, we should find the condition shown in Fig.
36, in which a triplet of leaves is making this
group of buds; but there are other leaves borne
singly, and in the axils of these only leaf -buds
are borne (as a rule). From this it is seen that
the method of fruit -bearing of the peach is very

36. The formation of the
triple buds.

34. Twig from 35. Triple
a peach tree, buds of peach.

37. Partly grown
peach.

FRUIT -BUDS OF PEACH

different from that of the apple, pear, plum, and
cherry.

It must now be determined why the fruit -scars
are single on the twig in Fig.
34, while the fruit -buds are in
pairs (with a leaf -bud between
them) in the first place (Figs.
36, 35). Fig. 37 shows a half-
grown peach which has arisen
from one of the buds. A flower
was produced from each bud,
but in the struggle for existence
one of them (and also the leaf-
bud) perished. The twig in
Fig. 34 has no buds upon the
bodies which bore the peaches;
therefore, these bodies are not
leaf -bearing branches (or spurs) ,
and they do not bear again. We
have seen (Figs. 36, 35) that
these fruit -buds are formed on
the axial growth of the current
year, and bear the next year,
and not upon spurs. Very short
fruit-bearing growths often arise
from two or three -year -old
wood of the peach, but these are
really not spurs— although they
look like spurs — because they

, T. . , . 38. Fruit-buds of

bear but once. It is plain, Moorpark apricot.

THE FRUIT -BUD

therefore, that the peach -grower should always
aim to so manage his trees as to have a liberal
supply of new growths.

An apricot shoot is seen in Fig. 38. It is of
two seasons' growth. Upon the last year's

39. Short branching spur
of apricot.

40. The three buds with
but a single leaf.

growth, above a, the buds are borne singly, in
twos, or in threes. Normally, a bearing young
twig has buds in threes, as the peach has, the
middle one being a leaf-bud, but one or two of
the triplet often perishes in the struggle for ex-
istence. Below a there are fruit- spurs, much as
in the plum. These spurs in Fig. 38 are long and
simple, and bear several buds ; but one often
finds branching spurs, like Fig. 39, reminding him

SIMPLE AND MIXED BUDS 55

of the pear, although the apricot spur never
attains such great age as the pear spur does. The
apricot, therefore, makes fruit -buds both upon
the current year's growth and upon spurs.

We have found (Fig. 36) that the triplet buds
of the peach are subtended by three leaves. The

41. Struggle for existence among the apple flowers.

apricot is not so, for the three buds are borne
in the axil of a single leaf (Fig. 40). We have
seen in Figs. 10, 22 and 33 that the blossom-bud
of the apple and pear and cherry contains leaves
as well as flowers. These leaves persist through
the season and aid in nourishing the fruit. Notice
them in Figs. 14 and 23. They are also shown
in Fig. 41; and this picture (as, also, Fig. 14)
shows how it is that apples are usually borne

56 THE FRUIT -BUD

singly although the flowers are in clusters of six
or more.

In the peach, however, the fruit -buds do not
contain leaves (Fig. 37), and, moreover, the
flowers are borne singly. Fig. 42 shows that the
same is true of the apricot. We may say, there-
fore, that the blossom -buds of the peach and
apricot are simple, and that those of the apple,
pear, plum and cherry are mixed.

GOOSEBERRIES, CURRANTS AND JUNEBERRIES

In the gooseberry shoot in Fig. 43, it is plain
that the part from a to b grew the last season, and
the portion below a two seasons ago. The upper
portion has simple buds, while the lower portion
has what appear to be elongated buds, but which
are really fruit -spurs. Each of these spurs, then,
bore a cluster of leaves last year, as if it had
been an apple spur. If the reader will examine
currant and gooseberry bushes at any time of the
year, he will readily conclude that they usually
bear fruits on spurs, but that these spurs gener-
ally bear only two or three times.

The two-year-old twig of a black currant is
drawn in Fig. 44. It was taken in spring, and
yet the remains of the old fruit -stems persist on
each of the spurs. The point of attachment of
these stems shows the lengths of the spurs of
the year before, and the crook in the spur at
that point shows that the fruit -bud was terminal

42. The single and leafless flowers
of apricot.

Gooseberry
shoot.

44. Fruit-bearing of the black
currant.

58 THE FRUIT -BUD

(as it must be in Fig. 43, since the spur con-
tains but a single bud), also that the subsequent
growth of the spur arose from a side bud. In
fact, two of the spurs, a, &, developed two side
buds. The fruit -bearing of the gooseberry and

45. Bearing shoot of dwarf juneberry.

black-currant, therefore, is by means of spurs.
The black-currant bears mostly on last year's
wood, but the red and white currants bear
mostly on two -year -old wood.

The juneberry twig (Fig. 45) shows that this
plant also bears upon spurs ; and upon each of
the four spurs shown in the illustration the old
fruit -stem still remains. The best clusters the

A MAPLE SHOOT

following year may be expected to come from
the strong terminal buds.

CO-TERMINAL FRUIT-BEARING

The expanding shoot of a maple is illustrated
in Fig. 46. It came from a winter bud termi-
nating a twig. The enlarging scales of this bud
are at 1, 2, 5, 4. This shoot bears not only

46. Expanding shoot of Norway maple.

60 THE FRUIT -BUD

flowers but leaves, and the shoot is growing.
That is, the axis has elongated considerably
since the opening of the bud.

A quince flower is drawn in Fig. 47. This,

Flowering shoot of quince.

too, is borne upon a leafy shoot of the season.
That is, a shoot sprung from the terminal winter
bud, and after this shoot had grown several
inches a flower was produced. Such methods of

48. Twig of quince.

49. Branch of small-fruited hickory.

62 THE FRUIT -BUD

flower -bearing may be called co- terminal, be-
cause they terminate the axial growth of the
season.

We can now understand the winter twigs of
the quince. Fig. 48 is such a twig. There is a
fruit -scar at d. We know that the shoot grew
the same year in which the fruit was borne ;
and this is further proved by the presence of

50. Cane of grape vine.

axillary buds upon the shoot between c and d.
Another fruit was borne at b. While this latter
fruit was growing, side shoots started off in two
directions, one extending to / and the other to
g. During the following winter the tip of the
branch g died, and in the spring two shoots
sprung from it, one growing to d and bearing
a fruit, and the other to e and not bearing.
The branch 1) f made a number of lateral shoots,
for its tip also had died before the growing sea-
son began. The twig 48, then, is four years old.

HOW GRAPES BEAR

In like way, the reader may trace the history
of any of the hickories (Fig. 49), butternut and
walnuts, in all of which the fruit -bearing is
also co -terminal.

GRAPES AND BRAMBLES

A bit of a grape cane, with a bud, is shown in
Fig. 50. In May, this bud has given rise to a
shoot like that in Fig. 51. As
the shoot grows, flower -clusters
arise. Two such clusters are
now well developed, and a third
is forming near the tip; and
the shoot will continue to grow
from the tip, a. This shoot,
in fact, is to become a cane,
growing several feet in length
before the close of the season;
but the flowers will not con-
tinue to form, for only two to
four clusters are borne, as a
rule, upon each cane, and these
are all near the base of the
cane. In the fall, the grapes
hang from the lower, or older,
joints (Fig. 52), the cane
continuing in the direction a; 5L The young grape
and from some or all of the
axillary buds on this cane, other flower -bearing
shoots may arise the following year. Therefore,

64 THE FRUIT -BUD

we may say that the fruit of the grape is borne
upon growing shoots of the season which arise
from wood of the last year's growth. If, there-
fore, two to four clusters of grapes may be ex-
pected from each bud upon the. recently matured
canes, the pruner can determine how many buds
he shall leave, — that is, how long he shall cut
his canes, — to produce a given crop.

In fall and winter, a recent black raspberry
cane looks like A, Fig. 53. In the following
summer, the bud above A sends forth a shoot, the
remains of which may persist the next winter and
look like B. This shoot bore several leaves, and
a cluster of berries at its top. The red rasp-
berry, blackberry and dewberry behave in a simi-
lar way. These plants are, therefore, like the
grape in the fact that they bear fruit upon leafy
shoots of the season which arise from wood of
the previous year's growth; but they differ from
the grape in the fact that the fruit is borne on
the end of the shoot, and the shoot, therefore,
cannot itself develop into a long cane. In other
words, the canes of the brambles arise each year
from the root — and bear the following year —
whereas the canes of the grape arise from other
canes.

Very many plants bear their flowers or fruits at
the ends of leafy shoots of the season, and their
fruit -bearing might, therefore, be said to be co-
terminal (page 59) ; but this term should be

52. The fruit-bearing of the grape.

THE FRUIT -BUD

restricted to those plants in which the leafy shoot
is short and reaches its growth soon after the

opening of the win-
ter bud.

Roses, some spi-
reas, and many orna-
mental plants, bear
flowers at the ends of
long summer shoots
(see Fig. 54); and
in such plants the
aim should be, if many flowers are
desired, to secure many strong sea-
sonal growths.

HOW TO TELL THE FRUIT-BUDS

We have now found that there
are three elements or factors which
aid one in determining the places
at which the plant is to bear flow-
ers or fruits, — the habit or manner
of growth of the plant, the character
of the spurs, and the looks of
the buds. Thus, we are to look
for the fruit -buds on the last year's
growth of the peach and black cur-
53. Fruit-bearing rant, upon two or three years' growth
•aspberry. Q^ ^ re(j curran^ generally on spurs
of apple, pear and plum; and the like. We know
that, as a rule, a spur which matures fruit one

HOW TO TELL FRUIT -BUDS 67

year produces only leaf -buds that year, and makes
blossom buds the following year. We know th,at
these fruit -buds are often formed a season ahead,
in which case they can be distinguished in the

54. Flower-bearing of wild rose (Rosa Sayi).

winter, as in most of the fruits ; but we also
know that in roses, and some other plants, there
is no way of telling in advance, — except by ex-
perience,— how many flower -buds there will be.

THE FRUIT -BUD

We have found that the winter fruit -bud is
generally larger, thicker and rounder than the
winter leaf -bud, and it is usually more pubescent

55. Leaf -bud of
pear.

56. Flower-bud of
pear.

57. Leaf -bud of
apricot.

or fuzzy. There are weak fruit-buds, however,
which are very like leaf -buds; and these weak
buds usually do not carry fruit
to maturity.

The only positive means of
determining fruit -buds is by
an examination of the interior.
The winter bud is really an em-
bryo branch. It contains in
miniature or in rudiment as
many leaves or flowers as the
resulting branch is normally to
bear. With a razor or very

58. Flower-bud of i •, • /? , -, •

apricot in section. sharP kmfe> Cut a bud m tw°

lengthwise. Sharp eyes can de-
termine between leaf -buds and fruit -buds in
apples, pears, and most other fruits ; but it is
best to have a small lens. A common pocket

THE FRUIT -BUD OP PEARS

lens is usually sufficient. If the section of a
pear or apple bud looks like Fig. 55, it is a
leaf -bud; if like Fig. 56, it is a flower -bud.

59. Pear spur with
leaf -buds.

60. Pear spurs, E with three
fruit-buds.

The globular bodies in the latter are the mini-
ature unopened flowers; one sees them further
expanded in Fig. 10. The imbricated plates in
Fig. 55 are bud -scales and leaves; one sees
them expanded in Fig. 11. A leaf -bud of apri-

THE FRUIT -BUD

cot is seen in section in Fig. 57. A flower -bud
(taken after it had begun to swell) is shown
enlarged in Fig. 58.

The pictures will aid the inquirer in deter-
'mining the fruit-buds in pears and apples; and
discussions in Chapter IV. may also help him

61. Tips of pear shoots; 2 has fruit-buds.

to understand them. Fig. 59 is a pear spur. In
1897, it bore fruit at its end, a, and two side
spurs, each terminated by a leaf -bud, arose from
below the fruit. In 1898, these two branches
may be expected to produce fruit -buds and to
bear in 1829. Fig. 60 shows a terminal leaf-
bud at A, and three terminal fruit-buds at E.
Below these three is a leaf -bud. These two
twigs in Fig. 60 are short spurs.

In Fig. 61 are shown the tips of three strong

THE FRUIT -BUD OF APPLES

top shoots from a dwarf pear tree. Shoot 1 is
terminated by a leaf -bud, and shoot 2 by four
fruit -buds. During the season, the end of shoot
3 was injured. The dead tip is still seen at e.
Two side buds developed, and there was a great
deposition of tissue below each one ; but both
of these buds are still leaf -buds. (See Chapter
IV. for further discussion of this common occur-
rence.)

Two apple spurs are reported in Fig. 62. One,
s, ends in a leaf-bud, and the other, o, in a fruit-
bud. Both set fruit the year
before, but the fruits did not
persist. Fig. 63 shows tips of 3KI d

strong apple shoots. At d is

62. Apple spurs; o has a
fruit -bud.

63. Tips of apple shoots :
e is a fruit-bud.

a leaf -bud and at e a fruit -bud. Observe that
the stoutest twigs bear the fruit -buds.

In some cases, the two sexes — the stamens and
pistils — are in different flowers on the same plant,
and in a few trees (as willows and poplars) they

THE FRUIT -BUD

are on different plants. Plants are said to be
monoecious when the stamens and pistils are
separate on the same plant, and dioecious when
they are on different plants. In both cases, it
is necessary that the inquirer should find two
kinds of blossom -buds, if he desires to locate
the parts. Fig. 64 is a twig from a filbert
taken in winter. The catkins, or flower -clus-
ters, are two at each
joint. With the first
warmth of spring, the cat-
kins elongate and dangle
in the wind. But they
bear only staminate or
male flowers. The pistil-
late or fruit-bearing flow-
ers are hidden in short,
rounded buds, and the
pistils do not protrude un-
til spring. Fig. 65 shows
a twig of hazel (filberts
and hazels are very closely
allied) taken in early
spring, and the styles of
the pistillate flowers are protruding from 65. Pistn-
the two lower buds. Other monoecious
fruit plants } are the walnuts, butter-
nut, hickories, and chestnuts, but chestnuts pro-
duce their flowers in summer, and the buds from
which fruits are to come cannot be so well dis-

64. Winter cat-
kins of filbert.

WINTER -KILLED BUDS 73

tinguished in winter except by their position
upon the tree. In the walnuts and hickories,
the pistillate flowers are co- terminal, but the
staminate flowers arise from lateral winter
flower -buds on the last year's growth.

If the reader has followed the discussions in
this chapter he will have derived a general
knowledge of the external features of fruit -spurs
and fruit-buds. It now remains for him to ver-
ify and expand his knowedge by examining the
plants themselves. It will not be profitable to
detain him longer here. It will be necessary only
to answer the question which
he will be sure to ask, — how
to tell when fruit -buds are
winter -killed. It is generally
the embryo flowers which are 06. Apricot buds live,
killed by cold, although, in and dead- Lon^-

. . , . , _ tudinal section.

severe winters, the entire bud
of the mixed fruit -bud type
may be killed, so that the
bud makes no attempt to swell
on the approach of spring. The
normal color of the interior of 6L Peach buds' live

and dead. Cross

fruit -buds is green or greenish. section.

When the interior is black or
very dark brown, it is generally safe to infer that
the bud is dead. Figs. 66 and 67 illustrate dif-
ferences between live and dead buds, the dead
buds being on the right in each case. It should

74 THE FRUIT -BUD

be added, however, that much of the reporting
upon condition of fruit -buds is little more than
guessing. The surest way to determine the con-
dition of the buds is to examine them carefully
under a lens or dissecting microscope. Having
determined just how a dead bud looks, in the
particular plant under consideration, the inquirer
may then extend his observations to a more
general examination in the field.

SUMMARY SYNOPSIS OF THE POSITIONS
OF FRUIT-BUDS

The positions of the fruit-buds in any species
vary with the age and vigor of the plant, with
the variety, and other conditions ; but the habit-
ual modes of fruit -bearing may be conveniently
presented in synoptical form :

I. Flowers produced immediately from dis-
tinguishable winter buds.

(a) Buds lateral, and no spurs: Peach, almond
(mostly), Japanese plum (in part), apri-
cot (in part), filbert, hazel.

(&) Buds terminal for the most part, on
spurs: Apple, pear, cherry, plum
(mostly), apricot (mostly), almond (in
part), currant (in part), gooseberry.

II. Flowers on shoots of the season.

POSITIONS OF FRUIT -BUDS 75

arises from a winter bud: Quince,
medlar, hickories, walnut.

(d) Terminal, or approximately so, on lateral

summer shoots: Raspberry, blackberry,
dewberry, orange.

(e) Lateral on strong shoots (or on canes) :

Grape, chestnut, persimmon, mulberry,
olive.
(/) Terminal on terminal shoots: Loquat.

CHAPTER III

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

Let us consider for a moment the general
make-up of the plant cylinder. The
young shoot is tightly enveloped with
bark. We observe that in many
plants the increase in diameter of the
stem comes about by the formation
of rings of new tissue (or new wood)
under the bark, and we know that in
all plants the growth in the thick-
ness takes place upon the inside of
the cylinder, and not upon the very
outside. It is evident, then, that
the covering of bark must expand in
order to allow of the expansion of
the woody cylinder within it. The
tissues must, therefore, be under con-
stant pressure or tension. It has
been determined that the pressure
within a growing trunk is often as
much as fifty pounds to the square
inch.

A piece of an elm branch ten years
old is drawn in Fig. 68. It is an

68. Cracking of

the bark on an

elm branch.

(76)

STRETCHING OF THE BARK

inch in diameter, yet the bark at the top is
smooth and intact. At one time, the shoot was
not more than one -eighth of an inch in diameter
at this point. The reader may figure out how

69. Piece of bark from an
old elm trunk.

70. A dead branch and the mass
of healing tissue at its base.

much this bark has expanded by the combined
action of intercalary growth and stretching.

The lower part of the limb shows that the
outer layers of bark (which are long since dead,
and act only as protective tissue) have reached
the limit of their expanding capacity and have
begun to split. The reader will now be inter-
ested in the bark upon the body of an old elm
tree (Fig. 69); and he should be able to suggest
one reason why stems remain terete or cylin-

78 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

drical, and why the old bark becomes marked
with furrows, scales and plates.

If, for any reason, the bark should become so
dense and strong that the trunk cannot expand,
the tree is said to be "bark-bound." Such a
condition is not rare in orchard trees which have
been neglected. When good tillage is given to
such trees, they may not 'be able to overcome the
rigidity of the old bark, and, therefore, do not
respond to the treatment. Sometimes the thin-
ner-barked limbs may outgrow in diameter the
trunk or the old branches below them. The
remedy is to release the tension. This may be
done either by softening the bark (by washes of
soap or lye), or by separating it. The latter is
done by slitting the bark -bound portion (in
spring), thrusting the point of a knife through
the bark to the wood and then drawing the
blade down the entire length of the bark -bound
portion. The slit is scarcely discernible at first,
but it opens with the growth of the tree, filling
up with new tissue beneath. Let the reader
consider the ridges which he now and then finds
upon trees, and determine if they have any sig-
nificance. In other words, are the trunks of
trees ever perfectly cylindrical f If not, what
may cause the irregularities ! Do trunks often
grow more on one side than the other!
Slit a rapidly -growing limb, in spring, with a
knife blade, and watch the result during the

KNOTS AND KNOT-HOLES

season. Consult the woodpile, and observe the
variations in thickness of the annual rings, and
especially of the same ring at different places in
the circumference.

We have seen that some of the side branches
on the little cherry tree (Fig. 2) died, and
that all the others will probably perish. Fig. 70
shows a dead limb on an oak tree. The limb
became weak because the shade was too dense,
and because branches
above it took more
than their share of
food. Finally, borers

71. A knot hole.

72. Knot in a hemlock log.

and fungi attacked it, and it died. It rotted
slowly away, year by year its twigs fell, and
finally a heavy fall of snow broke it off as we

80 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

now see it. As soon as it died, it became a men-
ace to the tree, for the rot in its tissues might ex-
tend into the trunk. The tree made an effort to
cover it up. The tissue piled higher and higher
about its base, reaching for the end of the
wound. The limb was eaten away by decay, and
became smaller and smaller in diameter, leaving
a cup -like ring about its base. Finally it broke
off, and a knot-hole was left. Such a knot-hole
is seen in Fig. 71. Knot-holes on the bodies
of trees, then, are the cavities left by dead and
decaying limbs.

A hemlock log, split lengthwise, is drawn in
Fig. 72. A knot extends to the center. This
knot is the remains of a limb, and is nearly as
old as the trunk, because it starts from the very
center ; that is, the limb sprung off when the
tree was a mere sapling. The probability is
that it is just one year younger than the trunk,
for branches usually start only on the second
year's wood, unless some stress of circumstances
starts out the older and dormant buds. The
limb finally died and broke off, and the stub
was buried. The tissue has now grown out to
the end of the stub, and nothing remains but
to close over the hole. If the limb had rotted
away, a squirrel or a woodpecker might have
taken up his quarters in the cavity. The wood-
chopper, however, found only a knot ; and a
board sawed from the log would have had a

IMPROPER CUTTING OF LIMBS

knot whenever the saw cut across the old stub.
If the knot were loose, it would fall out, and
the board would have a knot-hole. Knots and
knot-holes in boards, therefore, represent cross -

73. Improper cutting of a limb. 74. Proper cutting of a limb.

sections of branches ; and each one is the record
of an event in the history of the tree.

A limb was sawn from a tree. Several years
afterwards a drawing was made of the stub
(Fig. 73). The limb had not yet healed-in.
The reason is apparent: the stub had been left
so long that the tissue had not yet been able to
pile up over it, and, having no life in itself,
F

82 THE HEALING OP WOUNDS

the branch could not make healing tissue of its
own. The stub is now a monument to the man
who pruned the tree. Fig. 74 shows how an-
other limb was cut, and although the wound is
not nearly so old as the other, it is being rap-
idly closed in. There are most important prac-
tical lessons, then, to be learned from this study
of knot-holes, — two of which are that nature
is a most heroic pruner, and that limbs must
be sawn off close to the parent branch if the
wounds are to heal well.

THE NATURE OF THE WOUND

The foregoing paragraphs give the reader a
general view of the practical problems involved
in the expansion of trunks and the healing of
wounds. It will be profitable, however, to give
some of the problems more specific attention.

The increase in diameter of the stem or trunk
is made by the growth of cells from the cambium,
which is a tissue lying upon the outside of the
woody cylinder and beneath the bark. From its
inside, the cambium produces wood, and from its
outside, it produces the soft or inner bark. As
the outer bark is ruptured by the expansion of
the stem, portions of the inner bark give rise to
the corky external and protective layers. A mere
abrasion or surface wound, which does not expose
the wood, is healed by the formation of new cork

THE CALLUS

cells from the inner bark; but a wound which
exposes the wood is healed by growth from the
cambium .

The cambium, then, is the active, living tissue
of the plant cylinder. The wood cells soon be-
come lifeless, and have no power to grow or to
multiply. It is apparent, therefore, that when a

75. Cross-section of callus on an apple tree.

limb an inch or more in diameter is cut off, the
exposed hard wood can never heal, as a wound
heals in flesh. The pressure on the cambium
being relieved, however, excessive growth arises
from it and from the inner bark, and a mass of
tissue, known as a callus, rolls out over the wound
and covers it. Fig. 74 is an excellent picture- of
this callus ring. The ring will eventually cover
the wound; and if a longitudinal section of the
healed wound were then made, we should find the
condition shown in Fig. 75, — the end of the old
stub remaining as sharp-cut as it was when left

84 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

by the saw, and capped over with wood, much
as a fruit -jar is capped with a metal cover.

This Fig. 75 is one of the most important pic-
tures in the book, and it is drawn most accurately
from a normal and average specimen. It is im-
portant because it shows that the end of the old
stub has no organic or vital connection with the
callus which covers it, but it is merely hermeti-
cally sealed in, as a nail or a plug of wood might
be.* So far as the vital functions of the tree are
concerned, this stub is a foreign and useless body;
and no dressing can be expected to hasten the
healing -over process.

The callus ring grows rapidly for a year or two.
But hard bark forms on this callus, as it does on
other growing wood, and tension or pressure
thereby arises and checks the growth. This bark
even forms on the under side or lip of the callus.
Over the end of the stub in Fig, 75 there is a
thin layer of bark. We have already found that
slitting the bark upon a trunk relieves the pres-
sure and allows of extra -rapid growth at that
point. Suppose, then, that if the callus ceases
to grow, the operator make a circular cut with a
knife -point on the inner edge of the callus -roll !

In surface wounds which expose the wood, the
callus also forms from the cambium and covers
the denuded area. If the injury does not extend

*If the reader desires to know how a graft-stub is buried, he may con-
sult Fig. 133 in the last edition of "The Nursery-Book."

WHY SHOULD WOUNDS HEAL? 85

below the sapwood, or if the wood has not dried
out and died, the callus may make a vital connec-
tion with the exposed surface of the wound.

The reader now wants to ask what purpose
the healing of the wound may serve the plant.
The healing serves as a protection. It prevents
or checks evaporation from the exposed parts, and
prevents decay by protecting the wood from the
weather and by excluding bacteria and fungi. A
rotten heart, or rotten wood of any kind, is a
diseased condition; and this disease is the work
of living organisms.

The exposed wood dies. It cracks and checks.
The surface collects dust, which, with the dead
cells, makes a thin soil in which germs find con-
genial conditions for growth. Even after the
wound is covered by the callus, the mycelium of
the fungi may continue to extend itself in the
wood, often reaching the heart and causing the
trunk to become hollow. Normally, the heart of
a tree should never decay; but sooner or later,
most trees are exposed to injuries, either in top
or root, through which the organisms of destruc-
tion may enter.

The pictures will help us to understand. Fig.
76 shows a cross -section of a maple trunk in
which a nail is imbedded. The wood closed tight
about it and no harm resulted. Now, this was
the nail upon which a sugar -maker hung his
bucket. Just below it was the tap-hole; and this

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

hole, now completely covered by the wood, is seen
in Fig. 77. But mischief has come to pass. The
tap-hole was an open wound, and fungi entered;

76. Nail buried in the
wood.

77. Tap-hole buried in
the wood.

and the discolored tissue shows the progress of
the decay.

Pictures of ash logs are shown in Fig. 78. The
one on the right had a perfect -looking trunk,
although a scar was discernible at one point. A
section of the trunk shows that a large limb was
once broken off and its stump completely buried
under the new tissue; but the log is rotten-
hearted (a), and the decay of the old stump (bj

THE ROTTEN HEART

shows where the mischief began. The stnmp on
the other log is not yet closed in, and its end is
decayed; and a colored streak (c) running down
the heart of the old limb shows the trouble that
is coming.

A hickory stub has been covered (Fig. 79), and,
from outside appearances, the tree is now safe;

78. Disease in ash trunks.

but a section (Fig. 80) shows that decay began
before the healing was complete, and the injury
is already serious. Even in the apple stub in
Fig. 75, wound -rot is serious. The rougher the
surface of the wound, the greater is the likeli-

88 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

hood that disease will gain an entrance. On
perfectly smooth and solid wounds, the greatest

79. A healed-in stump.

danger is on the lower edge, where the up -rolling
callus -ring forms a cup which holds water.

It would be untrue to conclude that decay fol-
lows from all serious and exposed wounds. Fig.
81 shows a section of a maple log, in which the

THE ROTTEN HEART

buried stump is hard and sound; but such in-
stances are the exception, particularly in humid
climates.

We are now able to understand that while

80. The stump is diseased.

dressings or applications to the wound cannot
directly hasten the healing process (page 84),
they may aid it by preventing the decay of the
parts, and they may be the means, thereby, of

OF THK

UNIVERSITY

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

saving the tree. That is, dressings are preven-
tive, not curative ; and in this they are akin to
the antiseptic dressings of the surgeon, which

A sound knot.

prevent contamination of the wound and thereby
allow nature to heal it.

In order to present another view of wood decay
as a result of pruning, I have asked my col-
league, B. M. Duggar, to prepare a few para-
graphs on the subject, and these now follow:

" The exposed surface left by the pruning saw

THE WOUND DISEASES 91

is a mechanical injury as truly as the mark of
the whiffle- tree or of the wind. If this exposed
surface is not cared for, it may prove an inlet
for disease and decay. Unfortunately, this
matter has not received adequate attention from
mycologists studying wound-rot fungi ; and all
that we can do at this place is to suggest in a
general way what may take place, especially in
the larger wounds. It is not to be understood
that all neglected wounds lead to wound -rot dis-
eases ; but the point is that they may induce
such diseases, since a certain amount of death
and decay are inevitable ; and the larger the
wound, the greater the danger.

"First, then, we are concerned with the condi-
tions which bring about and encourage this rot-
ting. It is well known that when only the corky
outer layer of bark is removed, another corky
layer is readily formed for needed protection ;
but when a branch is sawn across, as in prun-
ing, the wood elements are directly exposed to
the air. It is then impossible for a corky layer
to be formed, and it may be several years before
a callus will inclose the exposed part. The sap-
wood of this exposed area soon loses connection
with the active functions of the plant, and .dies.
All heart wood is inactive, but in sound trees it
is thoroughly protected from the air, while the
exposed scar left by the pruning saw is open to
weather. The open tubes which make up the

92 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

younger wood may be blocked to a large extent
by ingrowths and often by gummy substances,
but this does not give complete protection.
Moisture is absorbed, oxidation proceeds, and
the dissolved organic matter is the beginning of
a fertile ground to which wind and rain must
bring the germs of bacteria and of our common
dead-wood molds. These germs find lodgment,
and sufficient moisture for their germination and
growth. It is a small beginning, but it is suffi-
cient gradually to form a soil more retentive of
moisture and full of the products of decay, — con-
ditions more favorable for the development of
wound -rot fungi.

"From what is known of this matter, it seems
fair to assume that bacteria are prominent in this
first slow process of weathering; but they are
doubtless only secondarily concerned in the deeper-
seated injuries where the decay has penetrated to
a considerable portion of the trunk. In most
cases, they seem to prepare the way for fungi
belonging to the toadstool family. One is every-
where familiar with these fungi growing upon
dead logs or stumps, or even upon the decaying
parts of living trees. The fleshy parts which
we see are produced at the surface for the pro-
duction of the spores or reproductive bodies ;
but the truly vegetative parts are usually be-
neath the bark or within the tissues, and it is
well to note how these develop from the spores.

THE DISEASES OF WOUNDS 93

Germination consists in sending out a few deli-
cate threads from the spores. These threads
enter the moist, decaying parts, branch consid-
erably, and at first confine themselves to that
portion which is already dead. As they grow
farther and farther inward, they may become so
well established and so vigorous as to induce
decay of themselves. They may encourage
the further entrance of air and moisture, and
thus continually they may be preceded by the
atmospheric conditions necessary for their fur-
ther action. At any rate, entrance to the
trunk may thus be effected ; and with this en-
trance local rotting is induced, and eventually
the decay may extend to a considerable portion
of the trunk. There are many instances of rot
in which the conditions do not favor the forma-
tion of the fleshy fructification of the fungus,
and the cause of the decay may not be very
evident.

"In the case of some trees used for timber,
and many other deciduous trees, there are well-
known rots and decays caused by members of
this toadstool family, some of them being pecu-
liar to a single species of tree, and others very
general in their attacks. Some of these fungi
are truly parasitic, being able to enter through
very small branch wounds, passing rapidly to the
sound tissues, where decomposition and decay
readily follow.

94 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

"In Germany the large, fleshy, sulphur -yellow
punk -fungus, Polyporus sulphureus, is known to
have attacked and caused decay of pear trunks,
gaining an entrance through a wound. This
fungus occurs in America, and while it is not
reported on orchard trees, I have found it grow-
ing luxuriantly upon the wild cherry, Prumis
serotina, killing the trunk, apparently, for a con-
siderable distance below a dead branch.

"The common little agaric, Schizophyllum com-
mune, I have observed growing in clusters be-
tween the new bark and the dead wood on an
apple tree to which the knife had been severely
applied after sun -scorching, but this fungus
doubtless only aids decay.

"Among pyrenomycetous fungi, there are some
which may take advantage of the injuries from
pruning. In Europe, Nectria ditissima is known
on the apple and bird cherry, producing on the
smaller branches the characteristic canker spots.
This fungus must enter through abrasions or
pruning wounds, and the decay which follows is
often considerable. Nectria cinnabarina is an-
other one of these fungi, common in this country
on many hosts, and this I observed last year on
a large branch of pear, extending to a considerable
distance either way from a broken branch of
small size.

"Rots and decays as a result of pruning de-
serve more attention, in order that we may

TREATMENT OF WOUNDS 95

fully understand the necessity for proper asep-
tic treatment."

SUGGESTIONS TO THE PRUNER

If the reader has grasped the principles involved
in this discussion of the healing process, he will
be able to arrive at many sound conclusions
respecting the rational making and treatment of
wounds. He will also see how futile it is to
attempt to construct any theory of the manage-
ment of wounds from a few isolated experiments;
for the interpreted results of such experiments
often contradict fundamental principles, and there-
fore cannot be true, however clear and unequivo-
cal they may appear to be.

First of all, the primer wants to know how and
when he shall cut the limbs so that they will heal
as quickly as possible. Let us think about the
matter, and see.

A twig of a peach tree was cut back in the fall.
By spring it had died back an inch, as shown in
Fig. 82. This stump cannot heal over of itself.
If it is ever inclosed, it must be buried by the
growth of a branch which shall spring from a
side bud. There is such a bud on the twig, and
if a branch arises from it, the stump may be
overtopped in the course of a few years; but the
probability is that this bud will not grow, because
the drying out of the twig has injured it. The
responsibility must fall, therefore, on a lower bud.

96 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

Two dwarf pear shoots are reported in Fig. 83.
The one on the left was cut at some distance above
a bud, and the dead and dangerous stub persists.
The twig on the right was cut just above a bud,
and the wound is already securely covered.

82. The dying-back 83. Poor and good heading-in

of a winter-cut shoot. of dwarf pear.

There are two important lessons to be drawn
from these simple examples, — the nature of the
healing process, and the relation of the length of
the stub to the welfare of the uppermost buds.
In respect to the healing process, it may be said
that stubs which project far beyond a branch or
far from a trunk, rarely heal over. The end of
the branch being removed, the stub cannot heal
itself, but the healing must depend upon the
activities of other parts or branches. This state-
ment is an exceedingly important one, and we
shall see its applications as we proceed.

THE LIFELESS STUBS 97

In respect to the welfare of the buds which are
near an open wound, the pictures seem to tell
contradictory stories. In Fig. 82, the bud is in
danger; but in Fig. 83, one wound healed over
because the bud was near it. These apparent
contradictions are explained by two circumstances.
The twig in Fig. 82 was on a newly-set, fall-planted
tree. The roots had not yet taken hold of the
soil, and could not supply the moisture which was
lost from the wound. The cell contents were
therefore injured. The twigs in Fig. 83 were on
well-established trees. Again, the cut in Fig. 82
was made in the fall, and those in Fig. 83 in late
winter. Conditions, therefore, greatly modify the
problem; but, as a rule, it may be said that in
severe and dry winter climates, and particularly
with tender fruits, heading -in of the annual
growths had better be done late in winter rather
than early in winter; and this is especially true
of recently fall -set trees. The healing of the
stub takes place most quickly, other things being
equal, when a strong bud or branch stands close
to the wound, provided, always, that this bud is
not injured by the drying out of the stub. How
long this stub may be and not cause injury to
come to the bud, depends, as we have seen, upon
circumstances. If the cut is made in spring, the
bud may usually stand close to the edge of the
wound; if it is made in winter, the stub should
usually be about a quarter of an inch long. In

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

the pruning of trained trees, European gardeners
often take off the shoots in winter when there
is time to spare, leaving the stubs two or three
inches longer than desired; in spring an assistant,
who may have had insufficient experience to en-

84. In memory of the
pruner.

85.

The bulge at the base
of the branch.

able him to block out the pruning, goes over the
trees and cuts back the stubs to a fresh bud.

The reader has already seen in Fig. 73 the
monument which a man erected to his memory.
It is a stump which is so long that it cannot be
healed over; for, as we have seen, a leafless and

THE LONG AND USELESS STUB 99

branchless stump has no life in itself. The only
chance for this stub to be healed -in is from the
activities of the trunk; but the end of it is too
far removed from the base of supplies to receive
much benefit therefrom. Having no vital part
in the life of the tree, it is side -tracked, and must
starve. Fig. 84 is another case. Above the stub
at the right a cluster of toadstool fungi has
found a happy foothold.

Where should these limbs have been cut?
There is an enlargement — or brace — at the base
of a limb, and this bulge is usually larger the
longer and more horizontal the limb. This bulge
is well shown in Fig. 85. It is a common notion,
— which the writer, much to his humiliation, once
aided to promulgate, — that the cut should be
made just beyond the bulge, and at right angles
to the direction of the limb. This leaves "a stub
like that in Fig. 86. The proper way, however,
is to cut as shown in Fig. 87, for all parts of the
wound are then in most intimate relations with
the trunk, which supplies the materials to be used
in covering the exposed surface. The area of the
wound is larger, to be sure, but this is of minor
consequence; and to such large wounds it is
expected that the operator will apply a dressing.

The writer has no doubts as to the soundness
of the advice given in the last paragraph, but he
is glad to fortify it by two excellent authorities.
Professor Sargent, in his introduction to the

100

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

American edition of Des Cars' pruning book,*
says that "it is necessary to prune in such a
manner that no portion of an amputated or
dead branch shall be left on the trunk. The

86. The wrong way to make the wound. Side and front views.

cut should always be made close to and perfectly
even with the outline of the trunk, without re-
gard to the size of the wound thus made. This

*A. Des Cars, A Treatise on Pruning Forest and Ornamental Trees.
By Charles S. Sargent, Boston, 1881.

HOW TO CUT THE LIMB

101

is the essential rule in all pruning, and on its
observance the success of the operation depends."
Des Cars himself speaks as follows: "It follows
that a wound caused by the amputation of a branch

87. The right way to make the wound. Side and front views.

must, in order to heal properly, be made perfectly
even with the trunk, that every part of its outer
edge may be brought into direct communication
with the leaves through the net -work of cells
destined to convey the descending sap."

102

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

WHEN TO CUT THE BRANCHES. — At what season
of the year shall wounds be made, so far as
the healing process is concerned ? There are
as many opinions as there are months in the
year. This is the best of evidence that there
is no one season in which wounds always heal
better than in all other seasons. It is indication
that the time of the year at which the wound is
made is less important than some other factor
or factors.

We have seen that the healing of serious
wounds is a process which depends primarily
on the cambium. Healing cannot begin, there-
fore, when the cambium is inactive, as it is in

late fall and winter.
We have also seen
(Fig. 82) that ex-
posed tissue may
die back during
winter ; and this is
;/,, particularly true in
'> ,J i j severe and dry cli-
mates. There is
always a tendency
for the cambium
and bark to die
about the edges of
a wound made in late fall or winter, and this
sometimes progresses so far that the edge of the
bark becomes loose. All this is clearly a disad-

88. Healing of a wound.

WHEN TO PRUNE 103

vantage to the healing process ; and the check-
ing of the stnb from its longer exposure is also
to be considered.

On the other hand, pruning in the growing
season of spring exposes the plant to bleeding.
It is not germane to the present discussion to
consider the effect of this bleeding on the plant,
although it may be said that injury rarely fol-
lows. It is said, however, that the sap sours
upon exposure to the air and injures the bark
and cambium about the edges of the wound.
Although this is a very common notion, I have
looked in vain for a number of years for a
single confirmation of it. Fruit trees rarely
bleed to any extent, and on trees which do
bleed, it is doubtful if this injury follows. The
Japanese walnut bleeds profusely. On the 10th
of April, 1896, I cut a limb two inches in
diameter from one of these trees. The sap ran
freely, and kept the bark wet for two weeks for
a distance of nearly two feet below the cut. At
this writing (Jan. 15, 1898) the wound looks as
shown in Fig. 88. It is healing well on all
sides, and there has never been the least injury
from the bleeding. Moist wounds, however, do not
allow of the efficient application of dressings.

Let us now go to the trees. In the fall of
1891, experiments were begun at Cornell to
determine the best season for the making of
wounds and the best dressings for covering

104 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

them. The tests were made on vigorous mature
apple trees (Greenings, Baldwins and Kings).
Branches were cut every month in the year, and
at various lengths. Dressings were made of
tar, linseed oil, grafting wax, white lead paint
and tallow. The results were studied in the
winter of 1895-6. It is unnecessary to re-
count the full experiment at this place, but
wounds representing typical average conditions
are shown in Figs. 89-92, and these we may
profitably examine. Unless otherwise stated,
these wounds are selected from two very sim-
ilar Greening trees standing side by side. One
tree is designated (1) and the other (2).

Fig. 89.— (1) cut Oct. 31, 1891.

Fig. 90.— b (1) cut Nov. 18, 1891.

bb (1) cut Dec. 19, 1891, wood frozen.

bbb (2) cut Feb. 23, 1892.

c (1) cut Oct. 12, 1891.

cc (1) cut May, 1892.

ccc (1) cut Nov. 18, 1891.

d (2) cut Oct., 1892.

dd (2) cut Mar. 25, 1892.

ddd (2) cut Feb. 1892.

Fig. 91.— e (2) cut June 20, 1892.

f (1) cut Oct. 12, 1891.

g (2) cut July 27, 1892.

h (2) cut Sept. 15, 1892.

i (2) cut Feb. 23, 1892.

j (2) cut July 27, 1892. .

WHEN TO PRUNE 105

Fig. 91.— k (2) cut July 27, 1892.

1 Baldwin, cut May 26, 1892.

m (1) cut Oct. 31, 1891.

n (1) cut Jan. 2!, 1892.

o (1) cut Jan. 21, 1892, wood frozen.

p (1) cut Oct. 12, 1891.

Fig. 92.— q (1) cut Oct. 12, 1891.

r (1) cut Oct. 12, 1891.

s (2) cut Aug. 26, 1892.

t (2) cut June 20, 1892.

u (2) cut May 26, 1892.

v (2) cut Mar. 25, 1892.

w (2) cut June 23, 1892.

x (2) cut Mar. 23, 1892.

y (2) cut Feb. 23, 1892.

z (2) cut Feb. 11, 1892.

zz (2) cut May 26, 1892.

zzz (1) cut Dec. 19, 1891, wood frozen.

Every month, except April, is represented in
these incisions. Let us pick out the wounds
which are healing well. They are Fig. 89, all
of Fig. 90, and e, f, i, j, k, 1, m, w, y, z. These
were made in the months of February, March,
May, June, July, October, November, December,
— nine months. The wounds which are not heal-
ing well are g, h, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, zz, zzz.
These were made in January, March, May, June,
July, August, September, October, December, —
nine months. Comparisons giving similar re-
sults could have been made on a more extended
scale and for every month in the year, from

Ideal results in the healing of a large wound. Four years'
growth of callus. A smaller wound on the lower
side entirely closed.

WHEN TO PRUNE 107

the wounds which are not reported in these pic-
tures.

We are forced to conclude that some factor
other than season is the most important in de-
termining the healing of these wounds. It re-
quires but a superficial examination of the pic-
tures to show that these important factors are
two, — the position of the wound in the tree,
and the length of the stub ; and of these the
former is the more important. Wounds on
strong limbs, especially those which are vertical
or ascending, heal best (compare Fig. 89, Fig.
90, and e, i, j, k, 1, in, w, y). Very long stubs die
back, instead of healing (see n, o, p). Wounds
lying close to the -parent branch heal best, and
those cut beyond the bulge or shoulder are inter-
mediate between these and the very long stubs.
(Compare, in the first category, Fig. 89, b, bb,
bbb, c, cc, ccc, ddd, e, i, j, k, 1, m, w, y, z; and
in the second category, d, dd, f, h, q, r, s, t, v, x,
zzz.)

Three of the wounds were made when the wood
was solidly frozen. Of these, bb is healing well,
showing that pruning when the wood is frozen
does not of itself delay the healing process.
(See Section 3, Chapter IV., for a further dis-
cussion of this question.) Wounds o and zzz
are not healing well, but the reason is to be sought
in the position and nature of the wound, not in the
fact that the wood was frozen at time of cutting.

d dd ddd

90. The healing of wounds.

DRESSINGS FOR WOUNDS 109

The conclusion, — and my general opinion, —
in respect to season of pruning, so far as the
healing of wounds is concerned, is this : The
ideal time is in spring, before growth begins
(late February, March and early April in New
York), but more depends on the position of
the wound in the tree and the length of stub
than on the time of year.

DRESSINGS FOR WOUNDS. — Having now obtained
a general conception of the nature of the healing
process, we are prepared to understand that a
dressing for a wood wound must possess two
properties, — it must check the weathering of the
wound, and it must prevent the growth of bac-
teria and fungi; and it must also be of such a
nature as not to injure the cambium and bark.
In other words, the ideal dressing is a protective
compound and an antiseptic. It does not hasten
the healing process, except as it prevents decay.
It is preservative and preventive.

It follows from the above considerations that
the first thing to be sought in a wound dressing
is durability. Paint and tar answer this require-
ment. It should also have intimate contact with
the wood. Wax and shellac do not satisfy this
requirement, for they tend to peel off and to
crack. Lead paint and tar are antiseptics, whereas
wax, shellac, tallow and the like, are not. Bor-
deaux mixture is also an almost perfect anti-

91. The healing of wounds.

DRESSINGS FOR WOUNDS 111

septic, and if it had the power of persisting and
of preventing checking or weathering, it would
be an ideal wound dressing. On quick -healing
wounds it can be used with great satisfaction, as
we shall discover later ; and it is a question if it
would not pay to thoroughly spray trees, from
which many small limbs have been cut, with the
mixture. This advice has other recommendations
than its suggestion for the preserving of wounds,
for Bordeaux mixture is an excellent general fun-
gicide; it cleans the trunks and branches of lichen
or "moss;" and it probably exerts the same in-
fluence as the washing of trees in softening the
bark and preventing the parts from becoming
bark -bound (see page 78).

Paint and tar are the dressings most universally
recommended. Tar and coal-tar are popular with
foresters, but it is certain that they often injure
the cambium and bark of fruit trees. Dressings
of tar, and even bandages of tarred paper, made
to protect plants from borers, often destroy the
bark, particularly on young trees. Des Cars
strongly advises coal-tar for forest trees, but
makes this remark respecting its use on fruit-
trees: "The application of coal-tar should not be
made except with considerable caution in the
treatment of wounds on drupaceous fruits (cher-
ries, peaches, plums, etc.), and especially on the
plum tree. It has often been observed that the
bark of fruit-trees of this class has suffered from

92. The healing of wounds.

DRESSINGS FOR WOUNDS 113

the application of coal-tar. This is not the case,
however, with pome -bearing trees (apples, pears,
etc.); to these coal-tar may be applied with per-
fect safety." Card reports* that in experiments
in Nebraska "coal-tar seems to have been a posi-
tive hindrance to the healing process, not one
wound having been reported as healing extremely
well." It is not said, however, whether the tar
injured the tissues, or whether the apparent re-
sults may not have been due to the position and
character of the wound quite as much as to the
dressing. In my own experiments, which I have
already reported (pages 104 to 109), tar did no
damage. In fact, the rapid -healing wound bbb,
Fig. 90, was dressed with tar. In those experi-
ments, paint, grafting -wax, linseed oil and tallow
were also used, but all the differences in the
healing of the wounds were evidently the result
of other conditions than the dressings. I will
expand my affirmation on page 109 to read: The
position of the wound on the tree and the nature
of the cut exert more influence in determining
the healing than either the season in which the
wound is made, or the kind of dressing which it
receives.

My conclusion is, after having had the question
in mind for a decade, that a heavy application of
lead paint is the best all-round dressing for com-

"Notes on Pruning, Bull. 50, Nebraska Experiment Station.
H

114 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

mon pruning wounds; and this, I believe, is the
commonest opinion with careful orchardists.

How TO MAKE THE CUT. — I have just spoken
of the "nature of the cut." I refer to both
the length of the stub and the smoothness of
the wound. The length of stub has been dis-
cussed (Figs. 84-87).

If the danger to wood wounds arises mostly
from the absorption of moisture and the entrance
of germs from the atmosphere, then it must fol-
low that a wound which is smooth and solid is
better than one which is haggled or splintered.
We can conceive, too, that the progress of the cal-
lus would be greatly obstructed
by notches and splinters.

Most of my readers — assuming
that I shall have such — need no
explanation of Fig. 93. The dis-
aster would have been pre-
vented if the operator had cut
the limb as suggested in Fig.

93. Careless pruning. „ . . . n -,

94. A cut is first made as at a,
sawing the limb half in two, and then the cut is
made at b. The stub is then sawn off close, as
shown in Fig. 87. Every pains should be taken
to prevent the splitting of the wound or the
tearing away of the bark, for ragged wounds
seldom heal without becoming seriously diseased.
Although this is not the proper place for the

MAKING THE WOUND 115

discussion of pruning tools (see Chap. V.), it may
nevertheless be said that for the severing of large
limbs no tool leaves a better wound than a sharp
saw. If the wound is not torn or split by the

94. How to prevent the
splitting of the wound.

weight of the limb, it will not be necessary to
smooth the cut with a knife, — as some persons
recommend. Chisels leave good wounds, although
they are likely to split the wound near its upper
side when they are operated from the ground
with a mallet. It is surprising how careless
many people are in the making of wounds on
trees. Axes and hatchets are often brought into
requisition, and the operator goes at his work as
he would at a stick of timber. Leonard Coates'
remark will apply to more states than one : " Many
pruners in California have mistaken their voca-
tion: they are carpenters."

116 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

THE MENDING OF TREES

Plants are exposed to injuries of storm, weather-
ing, and animals, and to the disasters which result
from the struggle for existence ; and they are
maimed by careless pruners and workmen. Many
of these injuries can be repaired, and the preced-
ing discussions will help us to understand how.
A few cases may be explained, however, as a
means of further elucidating the subject.

Label wires were carelessly left on the trunks
of young trees. The re-
sults are seen in Figs. 95
and 96. It will be noticed
that the larger diameter is
above the girdle. This is
easy of explanation. We
have already found (page 17) that
the materials taken in by the roots
are not directly available or useful
in the making of plant tissue. They
ascend to the leaves, and are there
95. The mischiev- elaborated, in connection with ma-
ous label wire, terial taken from the air, into organ-
ized compounds, or become incor-
porated with such compounds. These organic
compounds — of which starch is the chief— are
transferred to every part of the plant to build
up its tissues. The transfer takes place in the
inner layers of bark; therefore, whatever food

EFFECTS OF GIRDLING

117

passes down the stem is intercepted at the girdle
and is there deposited as abnormal tissue. Fig.
97 shows how a gir-
dled pine tree lived, oi- inches
and piled up tissue
above the barrier,
until the roots were
starved and the tree

96. Ruined by a
label wire.

inches

97. A girdled pine. The lower
part had four annual circles
of wood and the upper part
eight circles.

died. All these remarks have a direct bearing on
the question of ringing, which we shall discuss
in Chapters IV. and V.

118

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

The careful observer will often see the callus
of wood wounds growing most rapidly from the
upper side. In Fig. 88 the bark has grown down
over the wound. In Fig. 75, the point of union
of the opposite sides of the callus
ring is at &. This stub stood hori-
zontal on the tree, and 1) was the
lower side. The union of cion and
stock sometimes acts as an obstruc-
tion to the free downward movement
of sap, causing a bulge on old

98. Suggestion to prevent gall-
ing of a staked tree.

99. Bridge-grafting
of a girdled trunk.

top -grafted trees; but this phenomenon should
not be confounded with the normally more rapid
growth of some cions, due to the variety, as com-
pared with that of the stock (see Fig. 133, Nur-

TREATMENT OF GIRDLED TREES 119

sery-Book) . The reader will also notice the depo-
sition of tissue above the braces in Fig. 107.

We now see the importance of preventing the
girdling of trees by label wires and by careless
tying to stakes; but we are also informed that a
girdle is not necessarily fatal to a tree. If the
young wood remains live and moist, the crude
food materials may pass up from the roots, and
the plant continues to live for some time, and in
the case of coniferous trees, often for several
years. If the girdle is made early in the season,
the tree may cover the girdle with bark the same
year, and thus live on; but if the girdle is made
late in the season, the sap wood is likely to dry
out and die, and the tree to perish before the
return of another season. If it is desired to kill
trees quickly by girdling them, the girdle should
extend through the sapwood.

In the treating of girdled trees, it is first nec-
essary to see that the exposed wood does not
become dry and diseased. Trim away the rough
edges of bark, apply an antiseptic (a wash of
Bordeaux mixture is to be recommended), then
cover the entire surface with melted wax* and
bind it up with cloth bandages. Fruit trees may

*Many recipes for tree-waxes may be found in "The Nursery-Book."
The following is excellent: Into a kettle place one part by weight of
tallow, two parts of beeswax, four parts of rosin. When completely
melted, pour into a tub or pail of cold water, then work it with the
hands (which should be greased) until it develops a grain and becomes
the color of taffy candy.

OF THB

UNIVERSITY

120 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

be saved in this way, even if the girdles com-
pletely encircle the tree and if they are as much
as a foot long, providing the trees are vigorous,
and the treatment is applied before the wood
becomes hard and dry.

If the tree is particularly choice, or if the girdle
is unusually serious or of long standing, and
especially if the wounds extend into the wood,
it may be advisable to supply a connection be-
tween the separated parts of the trunk. Fig. 99
explains how this may be done. The edges of the
girdle are trimmed, and cions are inserted under
the bark so as to bridge the wound. These cions
are cut to a wedge shape on either end as for
ordinary cleft -grafting,* and they are inserted
between the bark and wood. A cloth bandage is
tied about each edge of the wound, to hold the
bark in place over the cions, and melted wax is
then poured over the entire work, covering the
exposed wood and also the edges of the bark for
a couple of inches or more back from the wound.
It will do no harm if the cions are buried in the
wax. Care should be taken that the cions do not
send out shoots from their buds. Some persons
prefer to cut the buds from the cions to avoid
this difficulty, but it is probably better to leave
the buds on, inasmuch as their effort to grow may
hasten a union. Fig. 100 is a cross -section of

*The whole subject of grafting is explained in "The Nursery-Book."

BRIDGE -GRAFTING 121

such a bridge -grafted tree, as it looked seventeen
years after the work was done. This specimen was
reported in The Rural New-Yorker in 1892 by Leroy
Whitford; the picture is reproduced from that paper.

100. Cross-section of bridge-grafted tree.

Body wounds on trees may be treated in the
same way as girdles, — dress the edges back to live
bark, scrape out all splintered and decayed wood,
apply Bordeaux mixture or paint (or other anti-
septic), then cover with wax. Fig. 101 shows

122 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

such a wound properly trimmed and cleaned. It
was a case of disease starting at a knot. The
knot has been wholly cut away, and all diseased
tissue is removed. If decay is now checked, the
healing callus will soon cover the
area. This will at once suggest what
is to be done with the dead patches
of bark left by body attacks of
pear -blight, borers, injury from sun-
scald, gnawing by horses, loose bark,
and the like.

It is but a step from these cases to
those of the splitting of the trunk
by cold, concerning the treatment
of which so many questions are
asked. Fig. 102 is a sweet cherry
tree which was split to the heart by
a cold winter and then neglected.
The bark has rolled back through
the action of alternate wetness and
dryness, the wood has become life-
less and the crack has gaped. Fig.
101. Treatment 103 *s a peach tree which was
of a body similarly injured; but in this case
wound. the kark wag trimme(j back to the

quick as soon as spring opened and the injury
discovered, and the area was painted with Bor-
deaux mixture. At the end of the same year, the
wound was nearly healed, and the tree is prob-
ably the better for the accident, since the pressure

TREATMENT OF SPLIT TREES

123

of a hide -bound trunk has been released. In
these cases of splitting it is very important that
the bark be trimmed back at once, before it be-
gins to roll and loosen it-
self; for as often as the
bark rolls the healing is
interfered with and forced

102. A neglected weather split.

103. A treated split.

further back from the original wound. In the
cherry and some other trees, there is a strong
tendency for the bark to roll, and in such cases
it is advisable to bind the wound with cloths,
having first applied melted wax to keep the
parts fresh and soft.

124 THE HEALING OP WOUNDS

Among the most difficult wounds to treat are
the rotten cavities following careless pruning.
Such a cavity is seen in Fig. 71. The decay has
often progressed so far that it cannot be checked.
The things to be done are to remove all diseased
tissue and then to close the cavity. Cut out the
rotten and discolored tissue with a knife or bore
it out with an auger. Then soak it with an
antiseptic. Now drive a plug of wood tight into
the hole (A, Fig. 104), paint the surface, trim the
edges of the wound to live tissue, and let nature
take her course. Large wounds
are sometimes covered with tin
or zinc. This is good as far as
it goes, but the diseased tissue
should first be removed. It is
impossible, however, to cover the
wound so tight with the metal as
to keep out germs. If the cavity
is securely plugged, and the sur-
104. Plugging face smoothed and kept painted,
a cavity. tlie resuits will usually be better.
What is to be done in such a case as Fig. 105?
It would probably be best to cut off the limbs at
A and B, and allow the remaining branch to form
the top. In that case, the wound at A must be
trimmed back smooth and clean, and painted or
otherwise protected. It may be desirable, how-
ever, to save the broken part. In that case, head
it back, raise it into position, and bolt it fast.

TREATMENT OF CROTCHES

125

An iron bolt may be run through the base, hold-
ing it securely in place, and a brace may be sup-
plied higher up, as shown in Fig. 106. These
bolts are run through the trunk or branches and
drawn up with a nut. Both the nut 'and the head

105. In need of repairs.

of the bolt should be large, so that they will not
draw into the wood. The bolt should fit tight
in the auger hole. When the work is done, apply
paint or other covering at the place where the
bolt emerges. The bolt will soon be buried, as
the nail is buried in Fig. 76, and the tree does
not suffer.

126

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

Very large branches may be raised and secured
in this way. Be careful to keep the old split well

covered with wax or
thick paint. If it is
necessary to apply
long braces in the
top of the tree, it is
often advisable to run
short bolts through
the branches, and on
the inner ends to have
hooks or eyes into
which another rod
or a chain may be
secured, thus allow-
ing for the moving
of the branches in the wind. It is a common
practice to support crotches and weak branches
by putting bands or chains about them, but the
reader will at once see that this is wrong; and
Fig. 107 will fix the error in his mind.

There is still another way of treating such cases
as Fig. 105. If a stub is left by the breaking of
the limb, the stump may be smoothed and cions
set in it freely, the remaining top being shortened-
in at the same time. One or two good branches
may be obtained from the cions, and the symmetry
of the tree be thereby restored. In Fig. 108, the
large branch on the right was grown from a cion
set between the bark and wood in a splintered

106. Crotch held by a bolt.

BRACING A CROTCH

127

stub (which terminated at a) six inches in di-
ameter.

The ideal treatment is to prevent the crotch
from splitting. This can be done by not having
the crotch, or by bracing it before it shows signs
of weakness. The
bolt (Fig. 107) may
be used for this pur-
pose. A living brace
may be grown over
the crotch, as shown
in Figs. 109 and 110.
Two small limbs,
preferably not larger
than the little finger,
arising from opposite
branches, are twisted

Fig. 107. Right and wrong meth-
tlghtly together, the ods of bracing a crotch.

free ends being al-
lowed to project as they may beyond the oppo-
site branch.

In a year or so the bark of the two will begin
to knit together, at which time the free tips — and
many shoots which have arisen from lateral buds —
are headed -back or removed. As the branches
continue to unite, the leafy parts are curtailed,
and in a few years a perfectly solid and continuous
living brace will be formed from limb to limb.
Fig. 109 is from an actual example, which the
writer has had under observation for more years

128

THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

than he cares to admit. Fig. 110 was made in a
different way. The brace is a single branch aris-
ing at the right. When as large as one's finger,
it was thrust through a slit made through the
branch at the left, allowing it to project two

108. A repaired apple tree.

or three feet beyond the wound. It soon grew
fast, and the free part was then removed; the
result is a perfect union and a strong living
brace.

In closing this sketch of tree surgery, I must
enter my protest against reckless treatment of
street trees. The most wanton and inconsiderate

DUTY TOWARDS STREET TREES

129

despoiler of shade trees at present is the lineman
who runs telephone and telegraph wires. He
generally has no appreciation of the value of a
tree, and still less of any need of giving thought
to the proper cutting of the limbs. Everything

109. Living brace in a Talman Sweet apple tree.

is secondary and subsidiary to the lining of the
wires, and the result is that many fine trees are
wickedly sacrificed. Our duty towards street
trees is vigorously set forth in the following
sketch by Professor Farlow:*

"I must not, however, close my remarks on
this subject without uttering an emphatic protest
against the way in which the shade trees of our

*W. F. Farlow, "Diseases of Trees likely to Follow Mechanical In-
juries". Lecture before Mass. Hort. Soc., Mar. 7, 1891.

130 THE HEALING OF WOUNDS

cities and towns are treated. The responsibility
rests not only with those who, perhaps uninten-
tionally and ignorantly, are directly guilty of
what an enlightened public opinion should regard
as vandalism ; but it rests in part on ourselves,
if we do not in all possible ways seek to give
information to the public, and attempt by all
legal means to secure the enforcement of such
regulations as shall assure proper protection for
our trees. As it is, the care of the trees in our
public grounds, parks, and streets is too often
placed in the hands of those who are ignorant
of the principles of vegetable physiology, and
tffl, aA ^ \ their efforts to prune

and cut down trees
are guided only by
' what seems to them
temporary conven-
ience, or by what
commends itself to
their not infrequently
perverted sense of
the beautiful. When
the whim seizes them

110. Living brace in a Newtown and they wish ' to get
Pippin apple tree.

rid of a stately tree,

it is only necessary for them to say that it is
rotten, and dangerous because likely to fall.
Many times I have seen trees whose shade could
ill be spared, cut down because their trunks were

OUR DUTY TOWARDS TREES 131

rotten, when examination after they were felled
showed that they were sound and would have
lasted many years. It ought to be considered a
crime to cut down a handsome tree — certainly in
public grounds — unless compelled by absolute
necessity. When it is thought necessary for the
public safety to destroy animals supposed to be
suffering from contagious diseases, there is, at
least, a consultation, and the opinion of experts
is asked. I hope that the time will come when
it will not be allowed to cut down trees which
are public property, except on the advice of
those whose training entitles them to be called
experts.

"If one is amazed sometimes at the abuses of
trees on the part of those who are their author-
ized guardians, it must be admitted that the poor
condition of our trees is principally due to the
recklessness of the public. * * * In most of our
streets the trees are very near the edge of the side-
walk, if they do not project into the street itself.
Those on the corners of the streets are almost sure
to be grazed by passing vehicles, and as wagon
after wagon passes along, the grinding process is
kept up until the wood is exposed. It is per-
haps fortunate that such trees are short-lived,
for they become very unsightly, and when they
die, the curbstone can be replaced as often as
is necessary.

"Walk along any of our streets where the

132 THE HEALING OP WOUNDS

trees are placed on the edge of the sidewalk,
and notice the effects due to our general negli-
gence. In some instances you will find that
the house -owners have placed guards around
the trunks, and the trees are symmetrical and
have attained a good size. But in most cases,
they have been left to take care of themselves.
Bright and early the milkman comes along and
jumps off with his can, leaving his horse to
make a scanty breakfast by gnawing the bark
of the nearest tree. Later on come the butcher
and the grocer, whose horses lunch upon what
was left by their predecessor, inflicting an
amount of damage to the tree limited only by
the length of time which their owners are pleased
to spend in conversation with the girls in the
kitchen. Last of all comes, perhaps, the doctor,
whose visits, if they are not 'frequent, are pro-
portionally long. He, at least, ought to know
that trees cannot be wounded with impunity.
No wonder that the bark is not only soon re-
moved and the wood exposed, but since the
horse is an animal which prefers the softer bark
to the harder wood, the fresh borders of the
wound are repeatedly attacked, until deformities
of enormous size are produced, and, apart from
the danger of fungous growths, the nutrition
of the tree is seriously deranged."

CHAPTEK IV

THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

We are now prepared to enter on a discussion
of some of the more fundamental considerations
governing the rational pruning of plants. It is
difficult to write on pruning, from the fact that no
two plants are alike, and many and various objects
are to be attained. It is impossible to instruct
any person in pruning by merely showing him how
to do the work on a given plant ; for the very
next plant may present a new set of problems.
If there are no generalizations or principles to be
enunciated, then writing on the subject is well
nigh useless.

It is astonishing how few lucid conceptions there
are of the problems at issue in pruning, and of
the factors which modify the results. There is no
literature which seems to clearly analyze the whole
subject, at least from the fruit-grower's stand-
point, and to present any consecutive body of
laws upon which the intending operator can act.
It is unavoidable, therefore, that the present
sketch should be far from complete and satis-
factory.

There are two great classes of ideas concerned

(133)

134 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

in the pruning of plants, — those which are asso-
ciated directly with the welfare and behavior of
the plant, and those which are associated with the
mere form or size to which the plant shall attain.
The former includes questions of pruning proper;
the latter comprises questions of training, which
depend primarily on the taste and abilities of the
pruner. Shall I grow my trees to round heads or
conical heads, high heads or low heads, one trunk
or two trunks ? Whichever you like. It is largely
a question of personal preference and opportunity,
as it is whether you shall plow with horses or
oxen, build a rail fence or board fence, or plant
Ben Davis or Baldwin apples.

Of all the operations connected with the grow-
ing of trees and shrubs, pruning and training
bring the person into closest contact and sym-
pathy with the plant. One shapes and cares for
the plant tenderly and thoughtfully, working out
his ideals as he would in the training and guiding
of a child. There are some persons, to be sure,
who cannot feel this sympathetic contact with a
plant : they are the ones who, if they prune at
all, use an axe or a corn -knife. If a person can-
not love a plant after he has pruned it, then he
has either done a poor job or is devoid of emo-
tion. It is a pleasure to -till the soil and to smell
the fresh crumbly earth, but the earth does not
grow; it is still a clod. The plant responds to
every affectionate touch. Spraying, that modern

WHY WE PRUNE 135

evolution of horticulture, is not to be compared
with pruning in producing a sense of fellowship
with plants. In fact, spraying has the opposite
effect with me. When I have sprayed a plant, I
am conscious that I have besmeared it, and have
taken a mean advantage of a lot of innocent
and defenseless bugs ; and I want to quit the
premises forthwith.

We shall now try to find a few general state-
ments, upon which we can all agree, respecting the
principles which underlie the practice of pruning
and training. Some of these principles follow
from a general consideration of the way in which
a plant lives and grows, some of them are re-
statements or summaries of discussions in the
preceding chapters, and others are suggested by
direct experiment. All of them are intended to
be general truths, not statements of specific facts.
Writings on pruning are usually confusing, be-
cause they are a mass of details, facts and opin-
ions, with little effort to arrive at laws or prin-
ciples. I advise beginners not to read them.
Principles must come first if practice is to be
satisfactory. The details are to be worked out on
the plant itself, after the operator has learned
why. Before entering upon this disputed ground,
we may pause to say that the reasons for pruning
may be ranged under eight general heads:

1. To modify the vigor of the plant.

2. To produce larger and better fruits or flowers.

136 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

3. To keep the plant within manageable shape
and limits.

4. To change the habit of the plant from more
or less wood -bearing or fruit -bearing (or flower-
bearing) .

5. To remove superfluous or injured parts.

6. To facilitate spraying and harvesting.

7. To facilitate tillage and to improve the con-
venience of the plantation.

8. To train the plant to some desired form.

1. Heavy pruning of the top of a plant tends to
increase the production of wood for strong
vegetative growth ).

A plant growing under normal conditions has a
perfect balance of top and root. The top and
root mutually supply, support and nourish each
other. The one must respond to the other. The
more root, the greater the amount of crude ma-
terials taken in; and the greater the amount of
these materials, the greater must be the elaborat-
ing leaf surface, and the greater, therefore, the
growth of all parts of the plant. If a large part
of the top is removed and the root is untouched,
the balance is broken. An equal amount of root
supplies a smaller amount of top. There is more
food for all the remaining branches. The re-
sult is greater growth of these parts than they
normally would have made ; or new parts — suckers
— may arise. Let the reader recall the crab -apple

HEAVY PRUNING MAKES WOOD.

137

trees described on pages 15, 16, or let him con-
sider the behavior of the dwarf pear tree in Fig.
111. All these considerations explain the gar-
dener's rule that in roses
and other ornamental
plants, the weak kinds
should be heavily pruned
and the strong kinds
lightly pruned.*

If it is necessary to re-
sort to severe pruning for
the purpose of correcting
the shape or training
of a plant, and it is de-
sired at the same time to
avoid excessive growth,
the operator should re-
move the superfluous
parts gradually. This
caution is important,
even in the training of
herbaceous plants. A
grower of winter toma- 11L Heavy P™ning produces

wood (in this case, a pro-

toes writes me as follows fusion of watersprouts).
on this point: "I find

that when planted thickly in the beds the foliage
needs heavy trimming to keep it within bounds;
and would say further of this trimming that it

"See, for example, Ernest Walker, in "Garden-Making," page 298.

138 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

must be done frequently, and only a moderate pro-
portion of the leafage removed at one time, for
if heavy trimming is indulged, it will cause a
fresh, strong growth which splits open the partly
developed fruits, exposing the interior or seed
cells of the fruit and rendering it unfit for
sale. Our practice is to remove the outer end
of the leaf and afterwards take off a joint
at a time as the leaves on the inner part increase
in size under the trimming, as the first two leaf-
lets on the leaf stalk eventually attain almost as
large size as the entire leaf under ordinary treat-
ment. The gardener tells me that the splitting of
the fruits would also result from stopping the
ends of the shoots while the plants are still in
growth. Of course, the fresh shoots coming up
from the roots would tend to overcome this vigor-
ous growth of the plants and consequent splitting."

2. Heavy pruning of the root tends to lessen
the production of wood.

The food supply is cut off. Root -pruning is to
be compared to poor feeding. The reader knows
that he prunes the tops of transplanted plants
because the roots have been cut, and he must
thereby reduce the area to be supported. Root-
pruning is practicable chiefly in the growing of
specimen plants, or in small amateur plantations,
particularly when trees are trained on walls, cor-
dons, and the like. (Consult Chapter V.)

REJUVENATING THE PLANT 139

3. Heavy pruning of the top tends to rejuve-
nate weak or declining plants.

This is because the remaining parts receive more
food. The proposition is really a corollary of
Section 1, but it has such distinct and important
applications that it is well to give it an indepen-
dent statement. When plants begin to fail from
general debility (not from the attacks of insects or
fungi), manure or prune them heavily, or do both.
It is generally best to remove the weakest parts,
particularly if the decline has progressed far ; but
if it is desired to save the particular branches
which are involved, a heavy pruning of the healthy
parts may be expected to throw new activity into
the weak ones In many cases, however, it is im-
possible to rejuvenate weak branches ; but suck-
ers or watersprouts may be developed, and these
may form a new head. Old and decrepit peach
trees are often headed -back severely for the ex-
press purpose of securing this new wood. The
tops of birches, maples and other ornamental trees
sometimes show signs of failing. If there are no
borers or other specific troubles, the tree should
be heavily pruned, and if the trunk and roots are
sound, renewed activity may be expected.

Under Section 1 (page 136) we found that weak
kinds or varieties of plants should be pruned
severely and strong kinds moderately. These re-
marks were meant to apply to plants of different
habits, not to weakness due to disease or debility;

140 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

yet the rule holds good in either case, — heavy
pruning for wood, light pruning to maintain the
habitual condition. One must be careful, how-
ever, not to apply these contrasts to differing
branches on the same plant, for it is a fact that
one branch may appropriate the food of another
(see Section 6) ; if, therefore, it is desired to even
up the branches on any plant, prune the strong
shoots severely and the others only moderately, and
thereby throw the energy into the weaker shoots.
This type of pruning is often done in the summer.
"Meehan's Monthly" gives the following advice
on this point: "This summer pruning is espe-
cially effective with coniferous trees. In the case
of pines, we know that in the springtime three or
four branches push out at the end of last year's
sprouts, looking like gas burners. The central
one is very vigorous and those on the sides are
weaker. If we pinch out the point of the stronger
ones the sap at once flows into the weaker ones,
and they become strong, and new buds form at
the place where the strong one was pinched off.
Next year this bud continues the growth of the
branch almost as straight as if it had never been
pinched -back. We can pinch off the terminal bud
of the main stem, a new bud forming a leader
without any bend. One who understands this
business of summer pruning of evergreens can so
manage that trees form an absolutely perfect speci-
men from the ground to the top, no one branch

WINTER -INJURED PLANTS 141

being any stronger than another. The chief thing
to remember is that in summer pruning the weak
branches of the shoot should not be touched ; it is
only the stronger ones that require checking."

These remarks have a most important bearing
on the treatment to be given to severely winter -
injured trees. My own thought about the mat-
ter is expressed in the following quotation from
" Principles of Fruit- Gro wing" : "The proper treat-
ment for frozen-back trees must be determined
for each particular case; but it should be borne
in mind that the injured portion is no longer of
use to the plant, whereas it may be a positive
detriment by accelerating the evaporation of mois-
ture. The best treatment for plants seriously
injured upon the extremities is to cut them back
very heavily. This severe heading -in— sometimes
to the extent of three or four feet — removes the
driest and weakest portions, and concentrates the
energy of the tree into a comparatively small area
of top. Heavy pruning always tends toward the
production of wood, and this wood production
is probably never more needed than in winter-
injured trees, for it tends to renew the vitality of
the tree. The philosophy of this becomes appar-
ent upon a moment's reflection. The browned
and injured wood can never regain its former
usefulness. New tissue must be developed as
quickly as possible, in order to carry forward and
to maintain the vegetative energies. This new

142

THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

tissue is laid on over the old, and the old, there-
by, quickly becomes sealed in, so
to speak, and removed from the
agencies of decay. Every obser-
vant fruit-grower knows that if
a tree which is severely winter-
injured in limb and trunk were to
bear even a partial crop of fruit
in the coming season, it would very
likely die outright. If, however,
all its energies were directed to
the development of new tissue,
the injury might soon be over-
grown. The injured wood, like
the heartwood of the tree, is soon
removed from active participation
in the vital processes. It there-
fore follows that the danger re-
sulting from the browning or
blackening of the wood by winter-
injury depends very
much upon the sub-
sequent treatment of
the plant. Fig. 112
shows the body of a
young plum tree (in
longitudinal and cross-
wise sections) which

112. Showing the new tissue „ , , ,

formed around winter-injured WaS frOZ6n black m

wood. the severe winter of

WINTER -INJURED PLANTS 143

1895-6. It was heavily pruned in the spring
of 1896, and in the fall had made a ring of bright
new wood, which was amply sufficient to maintain
the tree in perfect health for a long life. This
appearance is common in nursery stock the year
following a very hard winter, but such trees may
not be permanently injured.

"There are instances in which this heavy head-
ing-back seems to do more harm than good.
These are cases in which the entire tree is almost
uniformly injured, and the plant seems to need
the stimulus of all its buds to bring out the
feeble life which is still left to it; but these cases
are comparatively rare. It is probable that the
greater number of reported instances of death
due to heavy pruning of winter -injured trees are
of such trees as would have died under any treat-
ment. Winter -killed -plants often retain suffi-
cient vitality to enable them to leaf out or to
bloom, and sometimes even to begin growth, but
when the stored vitality of the tissues is ex-
hausted the plant perishes. This explains the phe-
nomenon which, after a bad winter, nearly always
puzzles the unobservant fruit-grower, of trees
starting into feeble growth, and then suddenly
dying when warm and dry weather approaches."

There are many unsolved problems associated
with the pruning of winter-injured trees in very
severe climates. There are evidently two factors
concerned in the question, — the general effect of

144 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

heavy pruning on the tree, and the injury result-
ing from the wounds. In the dry and cold cli-
mates of the North, Northwest and the Plains,
there is excessive evaporation from winter-made
wounds, and this injury may be so great as to
make severe winter pruning inadvisable in many
localities. (See Section 17.) It is therefore dif-
ficult to judge of the merits of controversies con-
cerning the advisability of the heavy pruning of
winter -injured trees, particularly in severe cli-
mates, because two or more unanalyzed problems
may be involved.

Since opinions differ as to the advisability of
severely heading -back trees which are much in-
jured by cold, I here insert extracts from letters
of various fruit-growers in the Northwest, to
whom I was referred by E. S. Goff, of the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin. Professor Goff himself
writes as follows:

" I have discussed the question as to the advisability of
pruning winter- injured trees with Wisconsin friends. Some
of them are very positive that pruning such trees in spring
has caused their death in several cases ; also that similar
trees not pruned until they had recovered vigor, have out-
grown the effects of the winter and made good trees. The
hypothesis that I have used to explain the opinions that
such trees should not be pruned in spring is this: The
buds, being enfeebled by cold, are not able to use a large
quantity of water from the roots, and hence thinning out
the buds, which naturally tends to increase the pressure of
sap in the remaining ones, proves injurious. That this is
true, I am by no means sure, but the fact that winter-

PRUNING IN THE NORTHWEST 145

injured trees often throw up many sprouts from the base
of the trunk, seems to me evidence in the affirmative."

Professor Budd, Iowa: "In cutting back injured parts
of raspberry, blackberry, shrubs, or the orchard fruits in-
jured by winter, I prefer to wait for the starting of the buds,
and then cut to the point where the buds start in a healthful
way. But in severe injury, such as that of the Florida
orange trees, I gave the advice to cut before there was
any show of buds."

Professor Green, Minnesota: "I prefer to prune after the
trees have leafed out quite a little, rather than early in the
spring. Early spring pruning, and pruning just as the sap
starts strongly, is liable to cause bad wounds, that heal
slowly, and the wood is apt to die back in apple trees in this
section when so pruned. But this latter trouble we some-
times avoid by covering all the wounds with grafting- wax.
Then, in the case of winter- injured wood, we can tell more
certainly as to the extent of the injury, if the pruning is
not done until the growth has started."

O. M. Lord, Minnesota City, Minn.: "My experience
with apple trees, though covering a period of more than
forty years at this place, has been limited to few varieties
and to my own grounds. I have found that it is almost sure
death to cut or trim apple trees at any time except when
the trees have begun to leaf out. I do not know of any
trees in the fruit line that will bear such severe cutting as
the native plums, but I prefer to trim them when the foliage
is nearly full."

J. S. Harris, La Crescent, Minn.: "My opinion, based
upon a long experience in this Northwest, is that if the
injury is so great that any considerable portion of the top
will need to be removed, the pruning had best be done as
soon as the winter is broken, and long enough before spring
opens that there shall be no starting of sap. The pruning
shall extend down to uninjured wood and the wounds prop-
erly covered. Where the injury is not so great as to re-

146 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

quire the removal of much wood, I prefer the last half" of
June for such pruning. Our experience here is, the worst
time of all for pruning is when the trees or buds are about
ready to swell and start, until they are nearly fully open."

A. J. Philips, Sec. Wisconsin Horticultural Society, West
Salem, Wis. : "My plan with a tree that has been injured
would be to prune it after the severe weather of winter is
over, and before the tree exerts any of its weakened forces,
to start growth on all the top, thereby concentrating its
strength on a smaller surface. But in this trying climate I
spend but little time trying to bring back trees that are
badly injured. I much prefer to top work those varieties
that are subject to injury on a known vigorous and hardy
stock. My rule now is to top -work one hundred each year
on three to five-year-old stocks, and my orchard is grad-
ually increasing in value and productiveness."

B. Wade Hewett, Pardeeville, Wis.: "My experience
has taught me that the earlier trees can be pruned in the
spring after severe freezing is past, the better. To be sure,
sometimes trees are so badly tipped-back that it becomes
necessary to wait for the selection of a leader until the
buds are well swollen, but all possible trimming should be
done before this. For best results, I would say, do all
fruit-tree trimming before leaves break."

Charles Hirschinger, Baraboo, Wis.: "Severely injured
trees should not be pruned till the year following, not in
the year of injury. If pruned, wait till after the leaves
are half grown, or, better, till June first. Severely injured
trees are sometimes killed by early pruning, or by pruning
the same year that they were injured; but if left till the
next year, they frequently recover, and wounds heal over
nicely, which is often not the case if pruned same year
they are injured."

George J. Kellogg, Janesville, Wis.: "Prune injured
shade (except maples) trees in March after zero weather is
past. Prune fruit trees after the weather will not get

PRUNING FROZEN ORANGE TREES 147

colder than 10° above zero. Farther south, where zero
weather is not likely to prevail, prune shade and fruit trees
any time in winter, at least thirty days before the buds are
likely to open."

The great Florida freezes of 1894-5 brought
much discussion as to the proper methods of treat-
ing frozen orange trees. Many persons cut the
trees back to fresh wood, others practiced root-
pruning at the same time to equalize root and top,
and others did nothing. The last-named persons
practically lost badly frozen trees. The writer
studied the effects of the various treatments in the
winter of 1896-7, and it seemed clear that vigor-
ous cutting-back is to be recommended in such
cases. Some of the best results were seen on the
estate of H. S. Williams, at Rockledge, Fla.; and
Mr. Williams' own advice* is here reprinted:

"As a rule, all my trees were budded low, and on sour
stocks. In April they began to show signs of life, vary-
ing from two to fifteen feet from the ground. All the
branches, with but few exceptions, were killed back to
the main trunk. Some trees were killed to the ground
on south side, while on the north they threw out vigorous
sprouts up some two or three feet. * * * Some of the
sprouts, high up on the trunk, where the wood did not have
vigor enough to sustain life — a mere shell under the bark —
have died the past summer, but not as many as I was led to
expect. The crop of the season of 1894-95 was ten oranges.
The present crop, 1895-96, may be 30 boxes. Owing to the
excess of roots over the top, hence the excess of sap and
food taken up by the roots, the fruit is somewhat coarse,

*As given in Indian River Advocate, Dec. 4, 1896.

148 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

while some trees have the red -rust, causing the fruit to split
and drop. This disease, however, will rapidly disappear as
the roots and tops become more evenly balanced. As some
trees were flowing more sap than others when the last
freeze struck them, so some were hurt much worse than
others, even though standing side by side in the grove.
The present condition of the trees, however, is, in the
main, very satisfactory, and the fruit-bearing wood should
give us a fair crop another season— say 20 or more boxes
where we now count one. The rapid growth of this new
fruit -producing wood will tax our ingenuity to the utmost
to keep it from being crushed by its own weight, as these
sprouts have, in many instances, but a thin shell of live
wood to give them strength as against the wood fiber from
the wood of the tree, as is the case with the tree in its
normal condition. These sprouts, growing at an angle of
some forty-five degrees, when weighed down with fruit will
have to be artificially supported with the greatest care. * *

"Profiting by the experience of the past, I would change
but little in the work done to bring out my orange grove to
the best advantage, and in the least possible time. If all
the trunks of the trees had been well wrapped the morning
after the second freeze, or better yet, the day before, if the
Signal Service would give us the notice in time, it would,
no doubt, prove of invaluable benefit.

" Then I should advise the following treatment : Cut off
the lower branches and cut top immediately above. The
trees treated in this way, as before noted, are alive all
around the trunk, and the branches and sprouts thrown out
seem to be more firmly united with the trunk than any
others. Cut all trees less than six years set close to the
ground, and draw the dirt away from the collar, so as to ex-
pose the surface roots slightly to the sun. As soon as prac-
ticable, plow the grove, breaking as many roots as may
come in contact with plow, and have a man follow with
keen grub-hoe, and cut off all such roots smoothly.

FROZEN GRAPE VINES 149

"If one has a small grove, I would advise digging a
trench fully ten inches deep, grading the distance from
trunk according to size of tree, and cutting off all roots.
Some trees treated in this way, a year after the freeze,
show a marked improvement in the way of growth the sec-
ond summer just passed. As soon as the sprouts from the
ground get large enough, insert your buds and get them
started as soon as possible. If you wait until the next
spring the buds will make too rank a growth. *• * *

"Regarding the number of buds that is best to let grow,
there is a great diversity of opinion, and it will take years
to decide positively what is really best. In all my younger
trees, where the stump will probably heal over, I have
adopted the rule to let only one grow, as we much prefer to
have a single trunk only. In the case of old trees killed
to the ground, I cannot but think that it will be a temporary
make -shift at the best, to get a few oranges while the
newly -set tree is growing, so that it really makes small
difference whether two or half-a-dozen are grown. Never
have we had such an opportunity to change our varieties."

How to treat grape vines which are frozen
after growth has begun is also a perennial ques-
tion. Much will depend on the severity of the
freeze, and on the amount of growth which had
taken place. The following extract* is believed
to explain the best method of procedure : "In
proceeding to treat frozen vines, it must be
borne in mind that the injured parts are of no
further use to the plants, and they are very apt
to weaken the plant by causing it to lose much
of its moisture. The rational procedure, there-

: Principles of Fruit-Growing," p. 329.

150 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

fore, is to strip off all the frozen shoots soon
after the disaster, so as to allow the energies of
the plant to divert themselves to the production
of new shoots. When the injured parts are soft
and small, it is customary to remove them by
pulling them off, rather than by cutting them
off. In well pruned vineyards the cost of strip-
ping ought not to exceed one dollar an acre."

4. A pruned plant tends to resume its natural
habit.

Every plant has individuality. One plant is un-
like every other plant. It may be round-headed,
conical-headed, very straight or strict, prostrate,
and the like. In whatever way or however much
the plant may be pruned, it immediately makes
an effort to regain its former or habitual shape
and behavior ; and the more vigorous the plant,
the more rapidly and completely does it resume
its former state. Vigorous firs and spruces make
a new leader without difficulty; the Northern
Spy tends to grow erect, however much it is
pruned, whereas the Longfield tends as persis-
tently to droop. It is evident, therefore, that
the most rational pruning — when fruit and the
welfare of the plant are chief concerns — is that
which allows the plant to take its natural form,
merely correcting its minor faults here and there.
In a pear orchard, for example, there should be
as many types or methods of pruning as there

THE LEADER RENEWS ITSELF 151

are varieties of pears. Arbitrary ideals are use-
ful only when it is desired to sacrifice other
considerations to mere form and looks. (See
Chapter VI.) They are chiefly useful in the
growing of plants for certain ornamental effects
and when it is necessary, — because of lack of
space, or uncongenial climate, or growing under
glass — to train to some definite form. It is well
to remember that mere handsomeness or comeli-
ness of the plant is unimportant in fruit-growing.
On this point, A. J. Downing writes as follows:
"Every fruit tree, grown in the open orchard or
garden as a common standard, should be allowed
to take its natural form, the whole efforts of the
pruner going no further than to take out all
weak and crowded branches."

One cannot visit a forest without seeing that
pruned and injured trees tend to regain their for-
mal stature. Observe how the leader was re-
newed in Fig. 113, — a tree which was once broken
over. The new leader, which sprung from the
declined trunk, now continues the bole of the
tree. In Fig. 114 several leaders have started from
the prostrate trunks, each one simulating the
upward growth of the original tree. These re-
marks will also apply to the roots. It is the com-
monest notion that a tap-root should not be cut,
else the plant will be shallow -rooted; but a new
tap — or, what may be better, two or three tap-
roots— arises from the old (from a, Fig. 115). The

113. Renewal of the leader in a broken tree.

HABIT OF YOUNG PLANTS

153

tap-root is one of the ancestral bogies of horticul-
turists ; and, like the sap, being out of sight,
almost any assertion may be made of it without
danger of disproof. The direction of the roots
is much influenced by the particular piece of earth
in which they grow, but beyond this, roots be-

114. Renewal of leaders on trunks which were crushed
to the horizontal.

have essentially as branches do, in respect to
pruning.

5. The habit of the plant varies from youth to
age.

Young plants are vigorous and rapid -growing.
They tend to make strong, upright growths.
Eventually they reach a limit of stature, and the
nearer they approach that epoch the less rapid is
the growth. Fruit -bearing tends to reduce growth
and to broaden the top. Young pear trees, par-

154 THE PRINCIPLES OP PRUNING

ticularly of the Kieffer type, make very long and
erect growths, but when bearing -time arrives the
growth is less marked and the limbs spread. The
treatment of a young tree, therefore, may be very
different from that demanded by the same tree
when it arrives at maturity.

6. One part of a plant may
live at the expense of
another part.

We know that the plant
cannot make use of the ma-
-TT terials taken in by the roots
* and leaves until these ma-
• terials have been elaborated
in the green parts. The elab-
orated material is distributed
to every living and growing
point. Some of this mate-
rial is stored, particularly in
the fall, and from this stored
us. Renewal of the material the early bloom and

leader on the root. growtll Qf spring is partly

and sometimes largely made. Strong spring
shoots are supplied from other parts of the plant
as well as from newly appropriated materials.
On this point Sorauer writes* that "it must not
be forgotten that at the commencement every

*" Physiology of Plants for the Use of Gardeners," translated by
Weiss, 146.

WATERSPROUTS 155

young shoot draws like a parasite upon the food
matter of the older branch; this applies as much
to the consumption of water as to the stored -up
material."

More than this, one shoot may rob another, and
thereby grow the faster. Shoots may be both
parasites and robbers. Very vigorous shoots
rarely have leaf surface enough to supply their
own needs. Being profusely supplied with water,
they appropriate building materials which have
been elaborated by other branches. Such shoots
are watersprouts or suckers. Robbers should be
arrested.

7. Watersprouts are results of a disturbed equi-
librium of the plant; and the formation
of watersprouts is influenced more by the
vigor of the plant and the amount of prun-
ing than by the season of the year in
which the pruning is done.

This is really a corollary to Section 1. We
know that heavy pruning produces wood, and
this extra production may arise either as an
elongation of existing shoots or in the origina-
tion of wholly new shoots. When these new
shoots are particularly lusty, they are water-
sprouts. Fig. Ill explains the outcome of heavy
pruning.

If the reader agrees to the above propositions,
then he must admit that the season of pruning

156 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

has a very secondary influence on the production
of watersprouts, however confidently he may have
asserted to the contrary; for if the plant is not
vigorous, and if the root force is not in excess of
the top, watersprouts cannot arise. To be sure,
watersprouts may follow the bending or twisting
of the top, but even in this case the equilibrium
of root and top is disturbed, as we shall find in
Sections 10 and 13.

It is probable that the season of pruning exerts
some influence on the appearing of watersprouts.
After midsummer, watersprouts cannot arise, as a
rule, for growth has then ceased; and if the plant
is pruned at that epoch it may have opportunity
to re -adjust its energies before another year, and
thereby exert its redundant forces rather more in
the prolongation of existing growths than in the
establishing of new ones. I must admit that this
philosophy is difficult of proof (see Section 16),
but it is as good an hypothesis as I can for-
mulate to sustain what is a sound maxim of
practice, viz., that the operator should not allow
the fear of watersprouts to dictate the season of
pruning. In fact, watersprouts are a result of
pruning as weeds are of plowing, and the like-
lihood of the appearing of either is in propor-
tion to the preceding neglect. Subsequent prun-
ing is the remedy for watersprouts, as tillage is
for weeds.

HEADING -IN 157

8. The tendency of plants is to grow from the

uppermost buds; and this tendency is most
pronounced in young plants.

We have had ample proof of this in Chapters
I. and II. We know that it must be so, too, from
the fact that it is the natural outcome of struggle
for light and air, and from the fact that were it
not so, strict -stemmed plants would grow broad
rather than high. If these considerations do not
satisfy the reader, let him go out and look.

We may prune in such way as to maintain or
augment this natural tendency, or to thwart it.
The means of checking it are of two types, —
hindering the upward flow of sap (as by girdling,
notching, bending, twisting, and the like, discussed
in Sections 10, 13, and in Chapter V.), and by
heading -in. To consideration of the latter cate-
gory we shall now proceed.

9. The heading -in of young growths tends to

develop the lateral and the dormant buds.

That is, headed- in plants thicken and broaden
their tops. The objects of heading-in are two, —
to correct an objectionable habit, and to induce
fruit -bearing. The latter consideration is dis-
cussed specifically in Section 15.

Inasmuch as* the shape which a plant shall
assume is largely a question of personal prefer-
ence, it is impossible always to give good advice
respecting the heading-in of trees and shrubs.

158 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

The rational heading- in of trees for the purpose
of correcting the habit devolves upon four con-
ditions or factors, — the rapidity or amount of
growth, the distance apart of the trees, whether
the trees are dwarfs or standards, and the personal
choice of the owner of the trees.

In fruit trees, annual growths of three feet or
more may be headed-in, particularly if the trees
are close together and it is necessary to reduce the
size of head. This operation is necessary only with
young and unfruitful trees, as a rule, for we have
found (Section 5) that mature and fruit -bearing
trees rarely grow wantonly. If mature trees are
making too much growth, the fundamental
remedy is to check the growth rather than to
cut it off, for heavy heading-in tends to augment
the difficulty (Section 1). The growth may be
checked by modifying the tillage or fertilizing of
the plantation, unless the excessive growth is due
to excessive pruning.

In dwarf trees, it is essential that heading-in
be practiced, in order that the top shall not
overbalance the root. This question is discussed
in its specific aspects in Chapter V.

In general, the matter of heading-in resolves
itself into a question of personal ideals. If the
owner wants a thick -topped and round-headed
tree, heading-in is necessary. If he wants a
free - growing, open -centered tree, heading-in
should be avoided, except, perhaps, while the

HEADING -IN

159

tree is very young. Although the writer's per-
sonal opinions upon this subject may be of no
value to the public, they
may nevertheless be ex-
pounded by a concrete ex-
ample.

A Kieffer pear tree is
shown in diagram in Fig.
116. It is two years set.
When planted, it was a mere
whip. The first season it
sent out four very strong
lateral branches, as shown
in the picture. At the end
of that season the growths
were cut back half their
length. The second sea-
son, two to four shoots
started from near the top
of each shortened branch.
If a similar treatment be
given at the end of the
second year, still other lat-
eral growths will arise the
following year, and the tree 116' Diaeram to rePre'

sent cutting-back of

will have far too many young tree.

branches. Three things can

now be done. The existing branches may be
headed -in as represented by the two long lines ;
some of the branches may be cut away bodily,

160 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

as shown by the several short bars; the treat-
ment may be a combination of these two. One
thing is clear: the tree now has too many branches
for its size, and some of them (say half of the
secondary ones) should be cut away. Whether
any further, heading -in shall be done, is a local
question. If the tree is making a growth of
three feet or more, heading- in would probably be
advisable. This heading -in tends to make the
branches thick and stocky, thereby enabling them
to support the forthcoming crops of fruit. As
the tree approaches maturity, heading- in may be
less frequent and less severe, and it may even-
tually cease.

To every one who contemplates the cutting -back
of trees, it should be said that heading -in neces-
sitates more pruning in the interior of the top
This is particularly true of early summer prun
ing, which often causes new lateral growths to
become so numerous as to be very troublesome
(as, for example, in summer pruning of grapes).

The writer, then, believes in heading-in vig-
orous young fruit trees of very strong -growing
varieties, for the purpose of inducing a stockier
growth of the branches and of promoting the
early branching of the main or scaffold limbs.
As the tree increases in age, the heading-in
should be less and less, and should generally
cease when full bearing arrives. If the mature
tree grows too rapidly, the fundamental correc-

OBSTRUCTING THE SAP 161

tive is to withhold tillage or manure. Another
motive for heading- in is merely to keep the tree
in shape, or to trim into some desired form. This
is a matter of a personal ideal, and, although the
writer's ideal is counter to this, there is no arbi-
trary standard by which the one ideal or the other
is to be judged. The writer believes that an open-
centered and free -growing fruit-tree is generally
preferable to a compact -headed and sheared -in
tree, but most excellent commercial results, par-
ticularly in stone-fruits, are often secured under
the latter method of tree- growing. The orchardist
should determine his own purpose when he begins
to prune his trees, and then carry out his plan
systematically and logically to the end. Aside
from these purposes, there remain the necessary
heading-in of dwarfs (Chap. V.) and the heading-in
for production of fruit -buds (Section 15).

10. An obstruction just above a bud or limb
tends to produce strong longitudinal growth
in that part ; an obstruction below it tends
to produce a thickening of the part and a
quiescent state.

The obstruction below the bud tends to cut off
the supply of water, upon which rapid growth
largely depends ; but the deposition of elaborated
materials from the leaves builds up tissue.
Since rapid wood growth is hindered because of
the obstruction to the up ward -moving sap, the

162 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

parts tend to thicken rather than to elongate. We
are already prepared for these assertions from
the study of girdling (Figs. 95, 96, 97, 107).

A complete obstruction amounts to a severing
of the shoot or heading- in ; and we have already
found (Section 9) that heading -in tends to de-
velop strong growths from the lateral buds. The
common methods of obstructing the movements
of sap are by girdling or ringing, notching, and
bending or twisting the shoot. Girdling by the re-
moval of bark, however, is such a complete ob-
struction as to starve the part below the girdle,
and the statements which may be made concern-
ing its effects do not always apply to notching and
bending the shoot. (See discussion in Chap. V.)

It should be remembered that the upward move-
ment of sap takes place in the young or sap-
wood, and a notch only through the bark does
not directly affect this movement. The downward
movement takes place in the inner bark, or bast,
and a notch only through the bark is, therefore,
able to check it. A notch through both the bark
and sapwood cuts off both movements and is equiv-
alent, in this respect, to cutting off the shoot.

11. Checking growth, so long as the plant re-
mains strong and healthy, induces fruitful-
ness.

Very strong growth is usually at the expense of
fruit -bearing. Tilling and manuring may be

FRUIT -BEARING IS A HABIT 163

carried so far as to make the plant over -vigorous
and under -fruitful. Heavy pruning may do the
same. Other conditions aside, deep notching of
the twig above a bud, tends to make the bud pro-
duce a long, woody shoot; notching below the
bud tends to make it develop a fruit -spur (see
Section 13). Heading -in tends to start woody
shoots from the buds near the cut. Girdling
just through the bark (or ringing) tends to de-
velop fruit-buds above the wound. If, however,
the girdle is below the foliage (that is, on the
stem or trunk), new shoots which may arise below
the wound must grow at the expense of material
stored in the part below the wound ; and if such
stored nutriment is small, shoots may not be able
to start. Girdling by cutting through the young
wood tends to develop strong growth below the
girdle and to starve and kill all the parts above it.
In a word, a strong supply of root -sap tends to
stimulate wood growth ; a pronounced deposition
of elaborated food tends to develop fruit -buds.

12. Fruit -bearing is determined more by the
habitual performance and condition of the
plant than by the kind or extent of pruning;
it is associated with a quiescent rather than
with a stimulated or fitful state ; and the
habit is more amenable to treatment when
the plant is young than when it is old.

Plants vary greatly in fruit -bearing. Some of

164 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

this variation is a matter of individuality. No
two trees are alike in this respect any more than
they are in form of top or length of life.
Some of the variation, however, is due to soil or
other environment. It is natural, however, for
plants to bear, and when they once come into
bearing they should be maintained in that habit
by continuous good care. With such plants, any
treatment which greatly disturbs their equilibrium
tends to break or upset the bearing habit. If,
however, through neglect or poor management,
plants have never acquired a bearing habit, the
grower may experiment, hoping to find something
which will bring them into fruit. One type of
experiment is to change the management of the
land ; another is to modify the plant -food ; an-
other is to change the method of pruning; another
is to give treatment for insects and diseases.

The principle under discussion is the most im-
pprtant one enunciatedin this hook, from the
fact lihaTMt—aflivises the fruit-grower to depend
more on good, thoughtful and consecutive man-
agement of his plants year by year than upon any
disconnected, spasmodic or unusual treatments
now and then. A good plan moderately worked
out is better than a hundred experiments.

Let us apply these reflections to the treatment
of a neglected and unfruitful apple orchard.
The general advice is to till, fertilize, prune and
spray ; and this advice is good. The pruning,

OVER -BEARING 165

however, has more effect in bringing the trees
into shape and in correcting the neglect of pre-
ceding years than in directly inducing fruit -bear-
ing. A heavy pruning adds vigor and produces
new wood (Sections 1, 3). The orchard is reno-
vated and rejuvenated, and the grower may then
begin and carry forward a consecutive treatment,
which he should have begun when the trees were
planted. After two or three years, the trees begin
to steady down, and fruit -bearing should then
begin; but fruit -bearing cannot be maintained if
the orchard is allowed to lapse into its former
condition.

We are now able to see that the common habit
of pruning the orchard heroically every two or
three years is one of the very best means of
keeping the trees unbalanced and upset, and of in-
ducing wood growth, and thereby preventing fruit-
bearing. All efforts to make plants bear annually
must fail unless consecutive good care is given
year by year. Light pruning every year is more
useful than the same aggregate amount of pruning
given only in occasional or even iu alternate years.

Over -bearing is itself a disturbance of equilib-
rium, and is almost necessarily followed by a reac-
tion of under -bearing. This corollary has such im-
portant bearing on practice that it should receive
careful attention. One extreme follows another,
and the oftener these extremes occur the greater is
the likelihood that they will become an unremedi-

166 THE PRINCIPLES OP PRUNING

able or fixed habit of the plant. It is interesting
to note that the habit of alternate bearing is most
pronounced in plants of long life, suggesting that
the habit is largely, if not wholly, the result of
the frequent occurrence of over -bearing while the
plant was young. Apples and pears are par-
ticularly given to alternate bearing, plums and
peaches less so, bush -fruits still less, and strawber-
ries not at all. It is a question, therefore, if any
treatment can set some old orchards into annual
bearing. The habit of alternate cropping may
have become too fixed to be changed; and, at all
events, pruning is only one of the means of over-
coming and correcting the habit (see Section 14).
Although it is a cardinal principle in horticul-
ture that checking growth induces fruitfulness, it-
is only a means of inducing a bearing habit; and
when this habit has once been secured, every
effort should be exerted to maintain it. It does
not follow, however, that trees of slow growth are
necessarily most fruitful. The most fruitful apple
tree I know is one which has made a very heavy
growth from the beginning ; but the bearing
habit was early induced by good tillage and good
feeding, and the extra growth enables it to bear
the more fruit. This bearing habit, as I have
said (page 163), is sometimes a matter of individ-
uality in the plant, sometimes a question of va-
riety, and oftener a question of good and rational
care begun when the plant is young,

SPECIAL PRACTICES 167

13. All means of obstructing the movement of
sap — as notching, shredding, bending, twist-
ing, girdling — are matters of special and
local application, and are to be associated
more with modes of training than with prun-
ing proper.

This principle is the complement of Section 12.
If the habitual performance of the plant — in-
duced by consecutive rational treatment — deter-
mines its usefulness, then the treatment of indi-
vidual buds and spurs must be merely incidental
and special matters. The fact is, that all the
advice in respect to notching, bending, and the
like, is born of the amateur and garden - culture
fruit-growing of the Old World. Whether the
authors were conscious of the fact or not, our
older American pomological writings are direct
offshoots of European small -area practices. The
emphasis is placed first on varieties, and always
on facts rather than on principles. In vegetable
gardening literature the same has been emphati-
cally true, and it was not until Henderson wrote
his "Gardening for Profit" that the large -area and
commercial American gardening found its tongue;
but even Henderson followed the detached and
cyclopedic method of arrangement, which is born
of a desire for facts and ready -reference rather
than for great truths and principles. But the
transcendent merit of Henderson's book — which
marks an epoch in American horticultural litera-

168 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

ture — is the fact that it caught the rising com-
mercial spirit of the time and threw off the bonds
of the amateur.

These remarks will, I hope, put the reader in
the right attitude towards all these petty matters
of pruning, as it will towards the common fault
of putting emphasis first on varieties and other
isolated, local and personal facts. If a person must
train his pear tree or peach tree to a wall or a
trellis, then he must perforce count his buds,
force spurs to arise at stated intervals, and be
familiar with the refinements of pinching, ring-
ing and notching Grape training is much con-
fused because people do not distinguish that it
involves two sets of ideas, — the pruning to remove
superfluous wood, and the training into some set
form. The number of buds to leave on the cane
depends more on the system of training than on
the principles of pruning.

We have already enunciated a principle which
underlies the results of the notching and bend-
ing of shoots (Section 10). Full directions for
performing these operations may be found in
European writings. It may only be said here that
these practices are not generally productive of
predictable results in fruit -bearing; but the ob-
struction to the movement of elaborated sap
tends to develop fruit, whereas the obstruction
to the movement of crude or root -sap tends to
develop wood.

EFFECTS OF NOTCHING 169

Notching into the wood above a bud tends to
produce strong growth from that bud. Notch-
ing just through the bark above a bud, tends to
weaken the bud, because the root -sap is not
stopped and the elaborated sap is stopped.
Notching into the wood below a bud tends to
pile up reserve materials at the bud and thereby
to induce fruit -bear ing. Notching just through
the bark below a bud tends to pile up tissue at
the bud, but since the root -sap is not cut off, the
bud may use this tissue in rapid growth, and
fruit-bearing, therefore, may not be induced. (See
remarks on page 162.)

Girdling or ringing (practice discussed in Chap-
ter V.) tends to develop fruit -buds above the
girdle. Bending the shoot to a horizontal or
deflexed position tends to lessen growth, per-
haps because of its position, but chiefly because
of the kinking or modification of the tissues
at the bend.

The following extracts from recent studies by
Koopmann* give a clear conception of the effects
of notching:

"Notches are made on twigs of one year's growth or more,
to influence a particular bud in various ways, or they are

*Karl Koopmann, " Elementarlehren aus dem Gebiete des Baumschnitts"
in Landwirtschaftliche Jahrbiicher, xxv. (1896), heft 4 u. 5. Koopmann's
studies in pruning have been commended by state and society medals.
This memoir gives copious references to the German literature of prun-
ing. A most significant conclusion of this extensive study of special
methods of pruning-treatments is the following sentence (which the

OF TRK

TJNIVERSITY

170 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

made below or above a twig in order to influence the de-
velopment of this twig, or of a larger part of a tree.

"Notches in the bark under a bud are equivalent to one-
third or one-fourth girdle, and can be made as girdles
are. The effect of the operation in causing the production
of fruit is confined, in this case, to a single bud ; at least a
more extended influence on the parts above it is hard to
observe, and probably does not exist, as the hindrance to
sap movement is very small, and the root is not essentially
drawn into participation. If, however, many such notches
or partial girdles are made on a twig and following each
other closely, as perhaps in the case of following the spiral
of the bud positions, the effect must be more and more
nearly that of a complete girdle.

"A notch above a bud into the sap -carry ing wood has a
contrary effect, as of a one-third or one-fourth cutting-back,
which really is done. If the twig were cut off at the same
point, a large number of rapidly-growing woody shoots
would be expected, particularly if the cutting-back were
done in older wood. The deeper into the sap- carrying
tissues the knife advances, the more pronounced must be
the result. The crude sap taken up by the root and not
directly of use in building tissue, c^in only do the work of
fitting for use the stored reserve materials. For these
reserve materials, thus set into solution, there is no other
outlet than that they be worked up and used in a leaf-
bud that had remained dormant or in a newly forming
adventitious bud below the notch. However, as soon as

student should consider in connection with our Section 12) : " Je weniger
wir zu sehneiden haben am Baum, desto gesunder bleibt er und desto
schoner entwickeln sich die Friichte" (The less we are obliged to cut a
tree, the sounder it remains and the finer its fruits develop). This
sentence must not be taken to mean that Koopmann would discourage
pruning, but that it is the part of wisdom to resort to pruning as little as
possible, and yet obtain the desired results.

The student will find an excellent account of special treatments of pear
shoots and spurs in Opoix's "La Culture du Poirier," Paris, 1896.

EFFECTS OF NOTCHING 171

growth has taken place, the organ, whether originally weak
or strong of constitution, is stimulated to the greatest
activity through the energetic up ward -pushing root-sap,
and the result of this is, by fall, a wood branch of luxu-
rious development.

"A pronounced notch in very old wood calls forth either
a very rank twig or is without effect. In these cases, it is
evidently caused by the absence of a bud or a location for
one. If untoward conditions of nutrition are present, it
may possibly be due to a defective storage of the necessary
reserve materials. This latter supposition it might be diffi-
cult to prove.

" The freezing of buds can call forth similar results on the
youngest wood, as those just described for old wood on
which there are, in general, no buds able to grow. On
many plants the buds suffer sooner than the cambium layer
of the wood. This is less noticeable on orchard wood than
on many natural woods; on the latter, in spite of the
strongest flow of sap, the sprouts will be missed under
such circumstances.

w The notchings spoken of in the foregoing paragraphs have
great importance to the fruit-grower, partly in the shaping
of the tree and partly in the production of a balance in
the branching (or clothing) of t-he scaffold limbs of dwarf
orchard trees. But the notches above a bud into the bark,
and under a bud into the wood, cannot attain any impor-
tance in practice.

" From what is known about the circulation and effect of
the sap, it may follow with some degree of clearness that
a notch above a bud, which removes but the bark and bast
layers, must tend to enfeeble and prevent sprouting, be-
cause the upward -moving sap is not stopped at the bud, and
the products of assimilation, which are a surplus from the
leaves, are withheld from the bud as long as the wound is
open. Many practical experiments with this notch gave^
however, chiefly two results. In most cases no marked

172 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

change could be determined on the bud. It remained dor-
mant, and thereby passed naturally to its destruction,
whether more rapidly than other buds not artificially in-
fluenced, we have so far not been able to determine. In
many other cases, a sprout did develop which sometimes
grew into a long shoot. This appearance made the matter
very unclear, until it was noticed that in such cases the cuts
had not been made with the care which they require. The
bark and bast layers had been removed, but at the same
time the younger layers of wood had been injured, as ap-
peared very prominently in longitudinal sections.

" There yet remains the notching into the wood below a
bud, and this, again, must be looked upon as a partial cut-
ting-back. Through such a notch the bud is cut off from
the root, and the cambium fluids are piled up at the bud,
which is, therefore, too abundantly supplied with reserve
materials without being itself caused to grow. The result
is similar to the notching into the bark, only the wound is
larger, and therefore takes a longer time to heal. The
deeper the sap -carrying wood -layers are cut, the less is the
tendency of the bud to develop a shoot, and it usually re-
mains as a well -developed fruit-bud without any clearly
observable lengthening of the axis, as though sleeping; or
it develops a leaf rosette, in order to bear fruit the next
year. A notch in younger wood, so executed between two
buds that both are equally influenced, results always in a
woody shoot from the lower one and a fruit-bud, or a very
small fruit- spur terminated by a fruit-bud, from the upper
one; the woody shoot is self -active, the fruit-bud seem-
ingly a parasitic creation. As the notch into the bark under
the buds, with reference to the production of fruit-spurs,
has generally the same effect as a notch into the wood, the
latter is superfluous. A slight damage to the outer wood
(splintschicht), however, does not in any way lessen the
expected result.
"While in the foregoing we have kept in view the effect of

EFFECTS OF NOTCHING 173

notches on single buds, an exhaustive treatment of the sub-
ject requires a short notice of the influence which similar
notches exert on already existing branches. Bark-notches
above or below a branch bearing spurs act in a very slight
degree on the branch in question ; a complete girdle around
the base of the branch acts, of course, as an ordinary
girdle. A quarter girdle on the under side causes the same
effect, but in a small degree, for the stopping of the cam-
bium fluids is almost completely obviated by the possibility
of their moving off to one side. An upper cut out of the
bark can also have but the same small influence on the
spurs of the branch under experiment, as the cut attains the
importance of a quarter girdle to the spurs while the branch
itself can in no way be influenced by this bark -notching,
because the downward -flowing cambium fluid from the
spurs can, of course, be held back, but cannot exert an in-
fluence on the branching below the girdle. In practice,
therefore, such bark injuries have no importance whatever.

"It is otherwise with vigorous notches in the wood below
or above a branch. By means of these notches the root -sap
is either cut off or led to these branches. The more vig-
orous the notching on a spur above one of its branches,
the more the latter receive of the crude sap, and the leaves
are the more stimulated to activity; the leaves become
larger, the internodes of greater length, the number of shoots
and leaves is increased, and an increased production of
wood is the result. Directly opposite is the effect of a notch
under a branch or twig. A large portion of the supply
destined for the assimilating organs is cut off from the
branch, and the diminished production of wood is a natural
consequence. The sap hindered in its course is carried to
other branches in increased quantities, and particularly to
one which may be notched above and therefore already
favored, if such should happen to be in the immediate
neighborhood of the first.

" With reference to the technical execution of the notches,

174 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

it may be said that they are made in the bark with a knife
in simple notch form, or like a half -moon. As to the notch
in the wood, the simple notch is used, also a gable-like
cut. The latter seems to have a slightly increased effect.
In place of the notches, in wood of a greater age than six
years, carefully made simple saw cuts, perpendicular to
the axis of the spur, or roof -like in form above or below
the organs to be influenced — aggregations of buds, twigs or
branches— are more desirable, as notches generally cause
too large wounds if they are to enter the wood to a sufficient
depth. A saw cut made at the proper time in the early
spring heals outwardly in from six to eight weeks, although
it causes in the wood a not insignificant wound, and can
cause necrotic appearances on sickly trees. As, however,
the never-healing wood wounds are protected from injurious
influences from without by walling over, permanent ill
results need not be feared. Weak or sickly trees and stone
fruits should be spared from such treatment as much as
possible, as every disease -producing organism is given a
new ground to occupy by such saw cuts."

14. Pruning may be made a means of thinning
the fruit ; and thereby it may indirectly
contribute to the control of the bearing
year of the plants.

Fruit is thinned both by picking it off and by
removing the buds which are to bear it. The
removing of the buds may be accomplished ex-
peditiously by pruning. This pruning may be
the heading-back of shoots upon which fruit-buds
are borne or the removal of fruit -spurs. The
operator must first know the mode in which the
plant bears its flower-buds. Heading-back of the

EFFECT OF THINNING THE FRUIT 175

annual growth thins peaches, quinces, raspber-
ries, blackberries, black currants, and, to a less
extent, red and white currants, and grapes, — all
those plants which develop blossom -buds on the
wood of the last season, or which have a co-
terminal habit (page 59) of fruit -bearing. The
great disadvantage of thinning fruit by means
of pruning is the impossibility of knowing how
many buds or young fruits may subsequently be
destroyed by cold, insects or diseases. Yet the
practice should be more generally in vogue, for
in most cases of too heavy prospective fruit-
bearing the danger can be partially averted by
a cheaper means than hand-picking the young
fruits. With tender fruits and in cold climates,
this thinning by pruning should be delayed until
danger of winter- injury is thought to be past.

The second part of the proposition is very im-
portant,— the fact that the energies of the tree
can be conserved by thinning the fruit. This is
really a corollary of Section 12. It is necessary
to discover just how this conservation comes
about. We have observed (see Figs. 13, 14, 15)
that there is an alternation in fruit- bearing on
the individual spur because the demands made
by the fruit are so great that a fruit -bud cannot
develop the same year. In the year of fruit-
bearing, therefore, a small leaf -bud develops to
continue the spur the following year ; and in this
following and barren year, a fruit -bud is devel-

176 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

oped for bearing the succeeding year. Alternate-
years' fruit -bearing, therefore, is largely a ques-
tion of food supply. If, then, we are to make
the tree bear every year, we must supply more
food materials to the tree (a subject which is
not germane to this treatise) or remove part
of the fruit. Removing the fruit affects chiefly
the spur on which it is borne ; in large fruits,
as a rule, one spur, or one branch of a spur,
matures one fruit : therefore, it must follow that
if thinning the fruit induces annual bearing in
some spur -fruits, it must be because one spur is
made to bear one year and another spur to bear
another year. That is, there is an alternation in
fruit -bearing on the spur, the same as before,
but the bearing year of part of the spurs is
changed by means of the thinning. It would
seem, therefore, that the thinning will have most
effect in inducing annual bearing when it removes
all the fruits from certain spurs, thereby allowing
these spurs to bear in the alternate years. But it
is probable that no amount of thinning can pro-
duce an annual -bearing habit unless the plants
receive other necessary consecutive good care.
It is a question if it would not be advisable to
change the bearing year of entire plants, thereby
allowing part of the trees in an orchard to bear
one year and the others to bear the following
year.

It is a fact that the bearing year of fruit trees

CHANGING THE BEARING YEAR 177

can often be changed by removing the crop very
early in the season; but it is also true that the
trees tend to revert to their accustomed habit,
and it is probable that this reversion is the more
rapid and the more complete the older the tree
(page 166) and the more indifferent the general
treatment of it. In fruits which are most syste-
matically thinned (either by picking the fruit or
by means of the accustomed methods of pruning) ,
annual bearing is the most pronounced. The
grape and peach are examples. Of trees which
are not habitually thinned, it seems as if annual
bearing is a quality of short-lived species more
than- of long-lived species, as suggested on page
166. In the short-lived species, as the bush-
fruits, there is not sufficient time, perhaps, to
allow such habits to become thoroughly fixed.

Bearing in mind the alternation in fruit-bear-
ing in the spurs in Figs. 13 and 14, let us con-
sider what might happen if the fruit were re-
moved when very small. Fig. 117 tells the story.
In this case, the very young fruit was removed,
and two blossom -buds have developed the same
season. In this spur the bearing year is changed.
We also found that the bearing year was once
changed in the pear spur shown in Fig. 19. I
must hasten to say, however, that this change
in the bearing year does not always follow the
removal of the flowers or young fruits, for very
much depends on the habit of the tree-, as well as

178 THE PRINCIPLES OP PRUNING

on its general thrift and vigor; but it is safe to
say that removing the flowers or very young fruits
from a spur or branch tends to cause that part
to bear the following year.

The fact that work is expended in the bearing
of fruit may be understood if one examines the
swellings on the spurs or fruit- bearing twigs of
pears. In Fig. 118, these swellings
(are seen at a a. The scars at the
ends show that fruit was borne
there. In the transfer of food to
this point and the arrest of longi-
tudinal growth, a building up of
mechanical tissue has taken place ;
and it is probable that the long
Pear fruit- £r°wth of the lateral branches
buds resulting (which, in this case, bear only leaf-
from the re- ku(is) has been made possible by the

moval of fruit. **'•-'• mi -i

Natural size excess of nutriment. The reader
must not confound these swellings
with the thickening due to mere arrest of longi-
tudinal growth, as shown in 3, Fig. 61 (which is
also mentioned in Section 15).

Chemical tests show that these swellings (like
Fig. 118) are not storage reservoirs of plant -food.
My colleague, Mr. A. L. Knisely, has made ex-
aminations of these swellings for me, and found
that the starch -like contents of the swellings were
less than that of vigorous and normal shoots of
the same age. In normal twigs, the moisture was

HEADING -IN TO PRODUCE FRUIT

179

found to be 50.94 per cent ; in swellings, it was
59.20 per cent. In both samples, the contents (as
starch, dextrine, pentosans, and the like) were
calculated as reducing sugar. In normal winter
twigs, the reducing sugar was
28 per cent; in the swellings,
at the same date, it was 27.1
per cent. Calculated to fresh
substance, the percentages were

118. Swellings on pear, resulting from fruit-bearing.
Half size.

13.74 for the twigs and 11.06 for the swellings.
These tests still further show that these swellings
are mechanical tissue, resulting from the strain
of fruit -bearing, and that they are not to be

180 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

looked upon as conducing in any way to sub-
sequent fruitfulness of the plant.

15. Heading -in induces fruitfulness by check-
ing exuberant growth and by encouraging
the formation of short lateral growths.

In Section 9 we have discussed effects of head-
ing-in on the growth of wood and the form of
the top of the plant. We are now enquiring
what effect it has in inducing fruit-bearing. So
far as heading -in tends to check woody growth,
it conduces to the formation of fruit -buds ; but
very heavy heading-back amounts to a heavy
pruning and it may, therefore, conduce to the
very opposite of fruit production. Therefore,
there can be no specific statements as to how
much or how frequent heading -in shall be to in-
duce productiveness. Everything depends on the
vigor and age of tree, extent of cutting, and
other local conditions. In fruit-trees which are
making a normal growth (say 12 to 20 inches)
at bearing age, cutting off a third or fourth of
the annual growth may be advisable ; but it must
be considered that this cutting -back may have
other objects than the inducing of fruit -bearing,
such as thinning the fruit, keeping the tree in
shape, preventing dwarf trees from outgrowing
their stocks, and keeping the stature small in
crowded plantings. Heading -in to induce fruit-
fulness must not be confounded with the head-

SEASON FOR PRUNING 181

ing -in of young trees to check too long and
slender branches. It is doubtful if an occasional
heading -in has much effect in developing fruit -
bearing. It should no doubt be an accustomed
practice, if employed at all for this purpose.

There is no question that heading -in the ter-
minal growths tends to develop short spur-
like branches in the interior of the top; and the
tendency of such branches is to develop fruit -
buds. However, it is a question if this result
is not an advantage to training rather than to
the ultimate productiveness of the tree. That
is, it concentrates the fruit in a smaller space;
but if the top is allowed to take its natural
course, it will probably develop as great pro-
lificacy as if it is headed- in. It is often a dis-
tinct advantage of heading- in that it tends to
develop fruit -bearing early in the lifetime of the
plant. As a matter of practice, the writer believes
that the value of heading- in as a means of induc-
ing fruit-bearing has been overestimated.

16. The season in which pruning is done has
some influence on fruit -bearing, for winter
pruning tends to produce wood, whereas
summer pruning does not.

Plants which are cut in midsummer, or later
in the growing season, seem to have the power
to adjust themselves to the new conditions dur-
ing the same season (page 156). That is, the

182 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

effect of the pruning is very largely taken up
before the return of spring, which is the season
of growth. Plants which are pruned in winter,
or any time during the dormant period, expend
their redundant energy at once in growth, upon
the return of the growing season. Aside from
all this, the removal of leaves during the sum-
mer reduces the working or elaborating surface,
and thereby tends more in the direction of
starving or weakening the plant than in feed-
ing or strengthening it. It is well known, for
example, that watersprouts are less frequent
following summer pruning than following win-
ter pruning. These remarks are necessarily very
general, and the condition of the plant and
amount of cutting may be expected to obscure
results which might be expected to transpire in
typical or selected cases. If the pruning is
such as to check wood growth without percep-
tibly weakening the plant, fruit-bearing is gen-
erally promoted ; and herein lies the value of
summer pinching of strong or leading shoots.
In respect to the proper time for pinching,
Sorauer remarks : * " The greatest success will
attend the process if the pinching takes place
just at the period when the buds have still
sufficient time to swell up and become stored
with food material, but when the supply of
water begins to diminish, so that the upper

*« Physiology of Plants," 138.

WHEN DO FRUIT -BUDS FORM? 183

buds do not grow out into long laterals. *
To prevent disappointments, we state emphat-
ically,— as the practice is very common, — that
no fixed rule can be laid down for the com-
mencement of summer pruning. Trees may even
be pinched to death. The favorable time for
this operation depends on the climate, the soil,
the variety and even upon the individual char-
acteristics of the plant."

The reader should know that the effect of
this pinching depends very much on the gen-
eral habit and vigor of the plant, and that it
is very difficult to predict results unless the
particular plant has been under training for
some time (and preferably from the time it was
planted). The best results in pinching the tips
of shoots are obtained when plants are trained
to definite forms, as on walls, cordons, in glass
houses, or in arbitrary pyramids or other geo-
metrical figures. The practice is, therefore, of
little use in the commercial fruit-growing of
this country.

The operator must not expect fruit -buds to
form in the same year in which pinching or
heading -back is done, although such immediate
results are sometimes obtained. If heading -in
is done before active growth has ceased, mis-
chievous lateral growths may be expected (Sec-
tion 9) ; if done after the leaves have ceased
to be active, little if any results may be antici-

184 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

pated. Theoretically, the proper time is just as
growth begins to cease, which, in the North, is
in early summer The shoot in Fig. 12 (Stark
apple) was cut back in winter, and the follow-
ing season the fruit -bud a was formed. This
was a comparatively weak shoot on the lower
part of the tree. Had it been a strong termi-
nal twig, the bud a would probably have pro-
duced a long shoot. The injury to the shoot 3
in Fig. 61 (at e) occurred about midsummer.
The two lateral buds received an extra food
supply and gave rise to late -season branchlets.
The parts became greatly thickened, but only
leaf -buds formed. It is probably correct to say
that heading -in and pinching exert more marked
effects, in inducing fruit -bearing, in subsequent
years and in proportion to the persistency with
which they are practiced, than in the very year
of the operation.

Before we can suggest perfectly rational treat-
ment to produce fruit -buds, we must know at
what period in the formation of the winter
bud the differentiation between the leaf -bud
and the blossom- bud takes place. This question
cannot be answered with our present knowledge.
In its very earliest stages, it is probable that
the winter bud is undifferentiated ; but its
character is probably determined before it be-
comes conspicuous on the branch. At all events,
it seems to be settled, as a matter of practice,

PRUNING ON THE PLAINS 185

that any treatment designed to produce blossom-
buds must be made before midsummer if it is
to have effect in that year. In general, how-
ever, as has been said, the effect of treatment
is to be expected in the year or years follow-
ing the treatment, rather than in the very year
in which it is applied.

17. The effect of pruning, as well as the neces-
sity of it, depends greatly upon locality
and climate.

Not only does the vigor of plants differ widely
in different places, but there are local dangers to
be avoided. In the coldest parts of the country,
winter -made wounds are the means of depriving
the tree of much of its moisture (page 143) ; in
such regions, plants need the protection of a
continuous cover of bark. In the hot and dry
interior regions, sun- scalding often follows very
heavy pruning, and there has thus arisen a feeling
that trees should not be pruned on the Plains.
It is undoubtedly true that in those regions out-
door plants need less pruning than in humid cli-
mates, but trees which need to be so heavily
pruned that they are injured by sun- scald are
usually those which have been neglected in the
beginning. On this subject Card writes* as fol-
lows:

" Shall we prune fruit trees in the West ? To the east-
*Fred W. Card, "Notes on Pruning", Bull. 50, Nebr. Exp. Sta. 1897.

186 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

era man this will appear like a foolish question, and he
will at once say, Why, yes, of course ; prune fruit trees
everywhere. To the western man it will not appear so
foolish ; indeed, many men upon the Plains would say
No! in answer to this question. Where is the trouble?
Plainly a difference in conditions. The eastern fruit-grower
has learned by experience that pruning is an essential part
of his method of treatment. The western grower, on the
other hand, has not only found that he can produce good
fruit without pruning, but has sometimes found injurious
results from it. He may, therefore, if his experience is
somewhat limited, jump at the conclusion that all prun-
ing is to be avoided. Some of the reasons for pruning
which apply in the moister climate of the eastern states
lose their force wholly, or in part, upon the Plains. The
eastern grower finds it necessary to thin his trees and
admit light and air to produce fruit of high color and
good flavor. The western man, on the other hand, finds
that, under his conditions of intense sunlight and low
humidity, fruit will develop color well regardless of such
precautions. The eastern grower, if he neglects this,
may find his fruit suffering from attacks of fungous dis-
eases; but in general, fungi are less troublesome in the
dryer climate of the Plains, so this reason likewise loses
its force.

"Yet there are reasons for pruning which are worthy
of consideration, even in Nebraska. It is frequently essen-
tial to correct bad habits of growth in young trees, and
this occurs as often in one climate as in another. Then,
too, a tree which has come to maturity may attempt to
do more than it can perform, so that it becomes neces-
sary to thin the fruit. This, in part, can be done by
pruning. In the case of small fruits and grapes it is
wholly so done, though with trees additional measures are
often needed. Still another reason would make itself evi-
dent to any one who would pick fruit for a short time in

PRUNING IN WASHINGTON 187

some of the trees which may be seen in Nebraska. Pick-
ing fruit is not an easy task under the best of conditions,
and when the tree is so full of limbs and suckers jthat it
becomes almost inaccessible, the work is doubly aggravat-
ing. Pruning is needed in Nebraska as well as in New
York, but the methods employed, or at least the measure
of wood which is cut away, will need to be varied. In
general, it should be much less severe in the western
states than in the Atlantic states. The main thing needed
is to watch the habit of growth of the young trees, to
prevent the formation of undesirable and crowding limbs,
and to remove occasional suckers and water-shoots which
may spring out from the trunk and base of the branches
as the tree gets older.

" The top of the tree needs to be kept more dense than
in moister climates. The fruit itself is much less likely
to suffer from shade than from exposure to wind and sun.
In the eastern states it is necessary to keep the lower
limbs well up from the ground, or the fruit produced upon
them will be lacking in color and flavor. In the West
this is an unnecessary precaution, and low-headed trees
are much in favor because they are believed to suffer less
from the wind and to protect the bodies of the trees
from sun -scald."

The different ideas to be followed in two parts
of one state are set forth by Balmer : *

" Climatic conditions will largely determine what prac-
tice we shall adopt in pruning our fruit trees. In a state
like Washington, where such dissimilar climatic conditions
exist as between the regions west of the Cascades and
the regions east of the Cascades, no practice can be laid
down that will be applicable to both sides of the range.
What would be a perfectly proper practice west of the

*J. A. Balmer, "Pruning Orchard Trees, "Bull. 25, Wash. Exp. Sta., 1896.

188 THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING

Cascades, where the sun is obscured a large part of the
year, and where the moisture conditions are conducive to
a large wood growth, would be almost suicidal on the east
side of the range, and vice versa. Therefore it will be
necessary to adopt a different practice for each side.

"Let us first observe the conditions prevailing in Eastern
Washington. Here we have a long, dry summer, with a
fierce, scorching sun and strong, drying winds, with a
maximum rainfall of probably less than eighteen inches
per annum, followed by a severe winter with fluctuating
temperature and sudden changes. In portions of the fruit
belt there is barely enough natural moisture in the" ground
to sustain a tree. Under these conditions who can wonder
that trees on the east side come to maturity at an early
age, and produce fruit at a time in their lives when they
ought to be making wood growth and establishing a
strong, healthy frame for future usefulness. And yet con-
ditions which at first sight would seem totally unfitted for
the production of healthy trees and fine fruit are, with
the aid of intelligent cultivation and judicious use of
water, made to produce abundantly of the choicest fruits
of the earth.

"There is no question in my mind as to what is the
proper method to adopt in pruning our fruit trees on the
east side of the mountains. We must prune in winter, and
prune hard. The tendency of all our young trees is to
run to premature fruiting, cherries carrying a crop of
fruit at two years old, and pears and apples bearing full
crops at five and six years old. To overcome this ten-
dency in our trees we must practice a system of pruning
that is conducive to wood and leaf growth, and to dis-
courage all forms of summer pruning and pinching. The
practice of allowing nature to have her sway in our
orchards has been tried and found wanting. A tree left
to nature's way will soon become a brushpile in the air.

"The above practice is recommended for all regions east

HEALING OF LARGE WOUNDS 189

of the Cascades. Trees on the west of the mountains
should be treated a little differently. In most sections on
the west side, and especially in the warmer valleys, trees
make an extraordinary wood growth. It is no uncommon
thing to find young prunes and cherries making a growth
of six to ten feet in a single season. The excessive mois-
ture in soil and atmosphere, and the mild climate, are con-
ducive to this rapid growth. Trees grow late in the
season, and there is some difficulty in securing thoroughly
ripened wood. To cut back severely in winter aggravates
the evil, and more and longer wood is the result. The
way to check this excessive growth is to resort to sum-
mer pruning and pinching and even to root -pruning.

18. The healing of large wounds is influenced
chiefly by the kind of plant, the general
vigor of the plant, their position on the
plant, the length of the stump, and the
character — as to smoothness or roughness
— of the surface ; other factors are the
healthfulness of the wood, and the sea-
son in which the cut is made.

These questions have been considered in detail
in Chapter III. Theoretically, the best time to
make the cut, so far as healing is concerned, is
in the early part of the growing season, for the
healing process then begins without delay; but
other factors exert much greater influence than
the mere season of cutting. Wounds on pome-
fruits (apples and pears) heal more readily than
those on stone-fruits. Those on the common
shade and timber trees (except pines and spruces)
usually heal very quickly.

190 THE PRINCIPLES OP PRUNING

19. Dressings do not hasten the healing of

wounds, but they allow the healing to
progress unchecked because they may pre-
vent disease ; a good dressing, therefore,
is one which is antiseptic and durable,
which affords mechanical protection, and
which does not itself injure the tissues.

The various questions involved in this state-
ment have been somewhat fully discussed in
Chapter III., in which it was concluded that lead
paint is perhaps the best single dressing or pre-
servative for wood wounds.

20. The best pruning is that which results from

a definite purpose or ideal, and tvhich is
founded on a consideration of fundamen-
tal principles and a careful study of all
the local conditions; and special prun-
ing-treatments designed to promote fruit-
bearing are of secondary importance to
the consecutive good care of the plant.

PART II

THE INCIDENTALS

CHAPTEE Y

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

Having now traversed the fundamental prob-
lems involved in the pruning of plants, we may
give attention to various details of practice.
These details are largely personal opinions, and
are, therefore, of restricted application; for prac-
tice must vary with every personal ideal and every
environmental factor. The advice in this chap-
ter is not given with the expectation that the
reader shall follow it literally, but it may suggest
some of the methods which may be employed to
secure given results. The reader is again urged
to bear in mind the distinction between training
or trimming the plant into some desired form, and
pruning for definite results in the welfare of the
plant and in fruit -bearing.

THE FORM OF THE TOP

Much of the discussion respecting the best way
in which to prune young plants is confused be-
cause the disputants are not agreed upon the form
of top which it is desired to produce. It goes
without saying that different treatments must be
given two trees if one is to have a high head and

M (193)

194 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

one a low head; and yet persons give the most
dogmatic advice upon the pruning of newly -set
trees, without once stopping to consider what form
or height of tree is to be ultimately obtained. It
will be well, therefore, to have a brief discussion
of the form of the top before considering the
details of practice.

The form of the top is largely a matter of per-
sonal preference, as we have already said ; but
there are distinct arguments in favor of various
ideals. It is not the province of this book to
consider these arguments, for they are not pri-
marily matters of pruning. The book desires
only to aid the operator in working out his ideal,
not in deciding what ideal is best for his condi-
tions. Yet a few general hints may be given.

The mental ideal has freest scope in ornamental
plants, for questions of profit and loss enter very
little into the problem. As a question of art, it
should be said that the natural habit of the plant
is, in nearly all instances, far better than an
artificial or geometrical habit. This is both be-
cause of the greater intrinsic beauty of a free-
growing tree or shrub, and because the plant is
less important for its own sake than for the part
it contributes to the general foliage -mass of the
place. These questions are somewhat fully dis-
cussed in "Garden -Making." The satisfaction
derived from a formal bush resides in the perfect-
ness of its formality. As soon as it becomes

THE FORMAL HEAD

195

ragged, it is unkempt, and is neither formal nor
free. The suggestion is, that trees and shrubs
which are trimmed into formal shape should be
sheared several times dur-
ing the growing season,
not in winter alone. Fig.
119 illustrates the point.
The bush was sheared in
winter. The operator
wanted a flat -topped and
thick -topped specimen ;
but he had such a speci-
men only in winter, for
the bush began to cover
its shame with the first
opportunity of spring,
by making long and free
growths.

In this case (Fig. 119),
therefore, the strong new
growth is a blemish, because the operator did not
want it (although it should be said that he took
the very best means to secure it by pruning
heavily in winter). In a fruit-tree, however, a
similar growth might not be a blemish, because
the object of heading -back in this case is not to
produce a definite form of tree, but to keep the
plant within bounds, and to modify the fruit-
bearing habit. Fig. 120 shows headed -in plum
trees as they look when first leaved out. Fig. 121

119. The winter-sheared
bush.

196 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

shows the appearance in fall, after the season 's
growth has taken place. These pictures are made
from selected and typical trees, as grown by a man
in the famous plum -growing region at Geneva,
New York, where heading -in is much practiced.
From one -third to two -thirds of the annual
growth is sheared off every winter.

In distinction from these plum trees, let the
reader consider Fig. 122. This picture is made

120. Headed-in plum trees. May.

from a typical plum tree as grown by a New York
man who does not head -in his trees. Both these
men are successful plum -growers. The trees bear
as well in the one case as in the other. Shall I
head -in my plum trees? That depends upon
whether you want trees like Fig. 120 or Fig. 122,
— that is, upon whether you want to head them
in or whether you do not !

The* relative merits of high heads or low heads
for fruit trees are always in dispute. This con-

HIGH AND LOW HEADS

197

troversy is partly the result of confusion of ideas,
and partly of differing mental ideals and of va-
rying climates. Two factors are chiefly con-
cerned in these disputes, — the question of ease of
cultivation, and the question of injury to the
trunk by sun -scald. It is the commonest notion
that short trunks necessarily make low heads, and
yet anyone who can see a tree should know bet-
ter. The number of trunks which a tree has, does
not determine the direction of the leaf -bearing
limbs. The tree in
Fig. 123 can be
worked around as
easily as it could be
if it had only one
long trunk. In fact,
branches which start
high from a trunk
are very apt to be-
come horizontal and
to droop. There must
be a certain number
of main or scaffold
limbs to form the
head. If these limbs
are taken out compar- 121.
atively low, they may
be trained in an upright direction and hold their
weight and position. If they are started out very
high, they will not take such an upright direction,

Headed-in plum tree.
September.

198

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

because the tree will not grow beyond its normal
stature. High -trained trees are often practically
lowest -headed. Tillage is as easy about such a
tree as Fig. 124 as about one like Fig. 125; and

122. Free-growing plum tree.

the former will often hold its shape the longer if
properly pruned. The question of the relation of
modern tillage of orchards to low heads is dis-
cussed in "Principles of Fruit -Growing."
In regions where tree trunks are apt to sun-

HIGH AND LOW HEADS

199

scald, the bodies should be short. In nearly all
regions outside of the Atlantic States this danger
threatens, and it is often serious on the Plains
and westward. Nearly all writers urge short
bodies and low heads
for the Pacific Coast.
In the Plains regions
it is a common prac-
tice to shade the trunk
by some artificial
means, but it is a
question if low -head-
ing would not be a
better practice.

What length of
trunk constitutes a
high head or a low
one, depends upon the
species of tree under
consideration. In ap-
ple trees it may be
said that a top is high

when the branches start not less than five "feet
above the ground, and low when they start not
over three feet. Pears, peaches and plums are sel-
dom started as high as five feet. The question of
high or low heads is largely one of climate, meth-
ods of tillage to be employed, and kind of tree; but
the writer believes that in the East the commoner
error is to train too high rather than too low.

A high-headed short-trunked
tree.

200

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

Wickson*, of California, protests strongly
against the prevailing fashion of high -topped
trees : " Low heading has for us all the advan-
tages for which this practice is approved in other

124. Vase-form peach tree.

parts of the world; viz., accessibility of fruit
and ease of pruning, symmetry and solidity, and
consequent decrease of danger from high winds,
and greater facility of approach to the trunk
with the horse in cultivation. This last point
has been contested on our own soil, for experi-

*« California Fruits," 149.

125. A long trunk does not necessarily give a high top.

202

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

ence has demonstrated that properly trained trees
with low heads and obliquely -rising branches are
handier for the cultivator than high -headed trees
with drooping, horizontal branches. But these

&JS,,L%K--

"* 4r *~f£ ^ \'f&' "' ~

'<>f %-2?l «•

VJ§*C*

126. Open-centered framework for apple tree.

general advantages of low -trained trees are not
the chief ones secured in California in low -head-
ing. Hundreds of thousands of trees have been
destroyed by the exposure of a long, bare trunk
to the rays of the afternoon sun. The sun-
burned sides have given the conditions desired

TWO TYPES OF APPLE HEADS

203

by borers, and destruction has quickly followed.
Sometimes young trees have not survived their
first season in the orchard, because of burned

127. Ideal framework for apple tree.

bark ; or this, with the added injury of borers.
It is found by California experience that the
growth is more vigorous in the branches when
they emerge near the ground."

204 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

The number of main or scaffold limbs should
be decided upon, in a general way, before prun-
ing of the young tree is seriously begun. Too
many limbs are more frequent than too few.
Four or five scaffold limbs are usually sufficient
for an orchard tree. The operator should also
consider whether he wants the trunk to continue
beyond the branches. Figs. 126 and 127 suggest
the problem. In Fig. 126 is shown a "single
story" apple tree, and in Fig. 127 a "double
story" tree. It is impossible to secure the latter
form in all varieties of apples, and rarely possible
with peaches, but it is nearly always easily secured
with pears. Wherever such form can be obtained,
the writer believes that it (Fig. 127) is to be
preferred. It is then possible to secure a greater
surface for fruit -bear ing, the load is more evenly
distributed, and there is less danger of splitting
of crotches. This high -centered framework is
secured by allowing the leader to continue. The
leader may be cut back when the tree is planted,
but a new one will start, and this may be allowed
to grow. It will soon reach the limit of its
height and make a normal system of branches,
as shown in Fig. 127.

Two most important points in the general prun-
ing of fruit trees are, (1) to determine upon the
proper framework for the top, and (2) to there-
after keep the tree open and shapely, allowing
it to continue its natural habit of growth.

TRIMMING YOUNG TREES 205

HOW TO TRIM YOUNG PLANTS

The general questions involved in the pruning of
woody plants when they are transplanted are dis-
cussed in "Principles of Fruit -Growing"; and
that account is here reproduced, after the study of
which we may proceed to a consideration of va-
rious specific applications.

"So far as the root is concerned, it is advisable
to cut away all roots which are broken or badly
torn. These should be cut off just back of the
injury. It is the custom to cut off the ends of all
roots of the size of a lead pencil or larger, for a
clean, smooth wound is supposed to heal quicker
than a ragged one. These cuts are made from
within outwards, so that the wound is more or
less slanting across the roots, and so that it rests
firmly upon the ground when the tree is set.
When the tree is planted, all the roots should be
straightened out to nearly or quite their normal
position. If it is found that one or two roots
run off to an inordinate length, they may be cut
back to correspond somewhat with the main root
system.

"Perhaps half the entire root system of the
young tree is left in the ground when it is dug.
It is, therefore, evident that the top should be cut
back to a corresponding amount. In fact, the
top should be more severely shortened -in than
the root, because the root, in addition to being
reduced, is also dislodged from the soil, with

206 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

which it must establish a new union before it can
resume the normal activities. Trees which are
allowed to carry too much top when planted may
fail outright to grow; or if they start, they are
very likely to be overtaken by the droughts of
summer. Even if they live, the growth is gen-
erally small and uncertain, and the tree may fall
a prey to borers or a victim to high winds. On
the other hand, trees may be trimmed too severely
when set. Except possibly in the case of peaches,
it is probably unwise to trim the trees to a mere
pole; and with peaches, it may be better to leave
spurs with at least one bud than to trim to a whip.
There should be a number of strong, bright buds
left upon the top, for these are the points where
early and active growth begins. These buds are
upon strong branches. If they are removed, the
weaker or half dormant buds upon the main trunk
or low down in the crotches must take up the
work, and these start slowly and often feebly.

"There are two general methods of trimming
the tops of young trees at planting time. One
method cuts back all the branches to spurs of
from one to three buds; or sometimes, particularly
with dwarf pears set when two years old, the side
branches may be cut entirely away, leaving only
the buds on the main stem or trunk. The tree,
therefore, 'feathers out7 the first season; that is, it
makes many small shoots along the main trunk.
The following fall or spring, the top is started at

TRIMMING YOUNG TREES

207

the desired height. Fig. 128 shows a peach tree
as received from the nursery, and Fig. 129 the
same tree trimmed in this manner, ready for

128. Peach
tree as re-
ceived from
the nursery.

129. The tree
pruned.

130.

planting. This method is the one generally best
adapted to the peach, which is always set when a
year old; but for other fruits, unless the trees are
slender and without good, branchy tops, it is
doubtful if it is the best practice. If the bodies

208 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

are thought not to be stiff enough, this manner
of trimming may be used to good advantage.
The main shoot should usually be headed -back in
this as in all styles of trimming, in order to make
the trunk stocky.

"The second method aims to start the top at
the required height when the tree is planted. It
is adapted only to strong and well grown stocks
which have a more or less branching and forking
top. From three to five of the best branches are
left, and these are headed -back to a few buds
each. Fig. 130 shows a pear tree, trimmed in
Fig. 131, and the illustration may be considered
to represent a good example of its class. Many
of our best planters prefer the spur system for
all trees, and there are some who would trim all
newly set trees to a straight whip; but there is
much to be said for both methods.

"It may be said in general, then, that peach
trees and all small or slender trees, should be
well headed-back and spurred (Fig. 129); but
that strong, well -branched trees may have the
head started at the desired height at the time of
setting, all the branches being well headed -back
(Figs. 130 and 131). Fig. 132 shows a small
plum tree cut to spurs, and the roots have also
been properly dressed. Figs. 133 and 134 show
second-class apple trees. In these the tops are
not well formed, and it might be best to trim to
a whip, allowing the branches A to become the

132. Young

plum stock

well trimmed.

133. Second-class apple
tree, showing leader
at A.

134. Second-class
tree, showing leader
at A.

210

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

leaders. Such whips may look very crooked and
scrawny, but they will straighten as they grow.
The lines in Fig. 135 show where a grape plant

should be pruned. The
top should be cut at a
and &, the upper roots
trimmed off at c and
d, and the main roots
cut in from e to /.

"The trees may be
trimmed before they
are planted, although
it is generally better to
do it just after they
are set, especially if
'the tree is trimmed
after the method of
Fig. 131, for one can
then better estimate the
proper height, the ope-
ration is easier done,
and there is no further
danger of breaking off
plant, showing where the limbs by the han-
it should be pruned. dling of the tree. One
foot is planted firmly at

the base of the tree, and then with one hand
the branch to be removed is bent upwards and
with the other the knife is applied to the under
side, and the cut is made neatly and easily (Fig.

TRIMMING WHEN SETTING

211

136). Never cut downwards on a limb, for
a ragged wound nearly always follows.

"In fall -set trees it is
generally inadvisable to
prune them before spring
(unless the tops are so
heavy and the bodies so
weak that they are likely
to be injured by wind),
because the cut surfaces
are likely to dry out. The
roots of the tree are not
yet sufficiently established
in the soil to supply the
added evaporation which
takes place from the
wounds. If it seems to

be desirable to

trim the trees

when they are

Set, they should

be cut back

only part way. They may be cut
again, to fresh wood, in the spring."
(Page 96.)

Having the general subject now well
in mind, we may consider various par-
ticular questions of practice. The ex-

137. Showing J

where to cut ^en^ to which cutting -back may be
the limbs, desirable in young trees is shown in

Trimming a newly

212

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

the various preceding pictures. It is also illus-
trated in Figs. 137 and 138, in each of which
the marks across the branches show where the
cutting may be done. Fig. 139 is designed to

138. Showing where to
cut the limbs.

139. Trimming to
stubs.

show where the branches may be severed in trees
which it is desired to head -in very closely. One
or two of the lower branches are to be entirely
cut off, and others cut back to one or two
buds, as shown at c.

In all the cases which we have so far considered,

SHAPING THE YOUNG TREE 213

it is assumed that the operator desires to have a
distinct trunk to his tree, and to start the top at
a height of three feet or more from the ground.
It is upon this assumption that nurserymen prune
their trees, making a single shaft. Persons who
wish a very low -topped tree, therefore, may find
difficulty in obtaining it from the strong -bodied
trees which the nurserymen supply. When it is
desired that the limbs shall start low, it is gen-
erally best to buy yearling trees. These carry
strong, live buds on the main shaft, with very few
or weak side branches. What side branches may
exist are cut off, and the tree is headed -back to
a single whip, so that side branches are
thrown out freely near the base of the
plant. Fig. 140 illustrates such treat-
ment. At the expiration of the first
year, the tree should look something
like that in Fig. 141, at which time
some of the branches may be removed,
leaving only as many as it is desired
shall form the main or scaffold limbs.
Some fruit-growers prefer to allow the
leader to continue in trees of this kind ;
but it is usually desirable to take out
the leader and to allow the tree to
form all its top upon four to six main
branches, which arise at intervals
along the short trunk. Two -year- old ming to a"
trees may also be trimmed to a whip, whip.

214

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

and if they are headed -in, or the young growths
near the top are taken off as they start, one
may expect to secure branches near the base.

141. The second year's
growth.

142. Two years old,
trimmed to a whip.

Fig. 142 shows a two -year -old tree which has
been trimmed to a single cane ; a branch is
starting near the ground. By heading- in this tree
when it is set, or soon after growth begins, the
bottom branches may be still further encouraged.

SHAPING THE YOUNG TREE 215

Although peach trees are planted when they
are one year old, they have generally been
trimmed up in the nursery, so that the lower
branches are destroyed. The
tendency for such trees is to
throw out branches near the
top, and it is often impos-
sible to make them branch
within two feet of the
ground, where many people
desire that the top shall
arise. Fig. 143 is a tree
which has thrown out two
sets of branches, one near
the top of the long trunk,
and the other near the base.
After this tree has grown
one season, it may be cut
off at the point indicated
by the bar ; and the tree
should then make a low and
vase -formed top, like that
shown in Fig. 124.

Balmer gives the follow-
ing advice* for the pruning 143- Opportunity for a
of young trees in Wash- choice'

ington (and the same advice will apply to
California, or to any place in which low heads
are desired) :

*Pruning Orchard Trees, Bull. 25, Wash. Exp. Sta. See also page 187.

216 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

"Low heading is the watchword for planters in
eastern Washington. Commence with a yearling
tree, switches preferred [as in Fig. 140] , for in
these we find the entire bud system intact, and
we can head our trees at any desired height. All
trees that naturally have a tall, upright habit of
growth, such as apple, pear and sweet cherry,
ought to be headed not higher than twenty to
twenty -four inches from the ground. And all
stone fruits, such as peaches, plums, prunes, apri-
cots, etc., ought to be headed a little lower, say
twelve to eighteen inches from the ground.
Yearling trees, as usually found in the nurseries
of the state, will range from two to four, or
even seven or eight feet high. At planting
time, whether it be spring or fall, these ought
to be headed -down to the proper height. I am
aware that it seems like a great sacrifice to take
a strong young tree and cut away three-fourths
of its top, but it must be done, and done at
once; for if you allow one year to pass without
attention to this topping, your chances to secure
a wrell-formed, low-headed tree are lost. For
while you may at any time cut a tree back to
the desired height, yet, to cut back into wood
that ^is two or three years old never gives the
same results as does attention to this matter at
the proper time.

"It will be seen that the treatment of the tree
the first season is of a very simple nature. Your

STARTING THE HEAD LOW 217

young orchard contains a lot of stubs sticking
out of the ground to a height not exceeding
two feet. During the first season's growth these
stubs will develop numerous branches, almost
every bud will start, and what was lately a stub
will become a little forest of shoots. [See Fig.
141] . * * * Allow every limb and every leaf
to develop to its fullest extent. Remember that
the leaves are to a tree what our lungs and
blood are to us, — its very life. And every leaf
you deprive the tree of in summer is robbing
it of its tissue-forming organs. Without leaf
action there can be no root action ; and the
fullest development in root and branch can only
be secured by religiously preserving the foliage.

"We will proceed to prune our tree for the
second time. The switch that you planted and
headed back last year has developed a number
of shoots, may be five or six, but more often fif-
teen or twenty. From these select from three to
five of the strongest, best ripened limbs (cutting
out all the rest), at the same time exercising
care to have them evenly fill the space around
and above the tree. Observe carefully that no
two limbs emerge from the trunk opposite each
other, forming what is known as a crotch. A
crotch in an old tree is always an evil, causing
a weak spot, where the tree will be likely to-
break down or split during a heavy fruit crop.
The remedy is in your own hands ; when you

m f OF i

ftJNlVERSITY \
V*c=

218

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

prune your two-year-old tree, cut out every limb
that forms a crotch with its neighbor.

"The tree in Fig. 144 will convey the idea of
what a two-year-old tree ought to be like after
having received its second pruning. Notice the
arrangement of the limbs. All crotches have
been avoided; from the ground to the lowest
branches is twelve inches, and the entire height of
the tree thirty inches. Contrast this little stocky
tree with the weaklings of the same
age one commonly meets in orchards
to-day, with thin, misshapen trunk
three or four feet high, surmounted
by two or three long spindling
branches, the whole innocent of
knife and shears. No wonder our
trees break down ; they have not
strength to carry a heavy crop of
fruit!

"After having selected the desired
number of limbs intended to form
the frame of the tree, shorten these
back to within a foot of the trunk,
always cutting to a plump promi-
nent bud. The tree may be spread,
or it may be contracted, by cutting
to a bud which points outward, for
the former, and to a bud that inclines inward
for the latter. You need not hope to alter the
character of the tree by this cutting to a bud,

4i- Pruned
ie

STARTING THE HEAD LOW 219

yet a little may be done to improve its shape.
As a rule the weaker the growth the harder it
ought to be cut back ; this will encourage an in-
creased wood growth the following summer.
Trees treated in this way make a growth that is
often very perplexing to the amateur ; the result
of this shortening -in of all the limbs will be an
increased number of shoots to treat the follow-
ing season. * * *

"The third pruning is conducted on the same
lines as the second, with this difference: Select
the limbs you wish to continue the upward
growth of the tree ; these will usually be not
more than two on each of those left last year,
observing the same care not to leave crotches,
and shortening -in the growth made in that sea-
son; but instead of taking off all of the inside
shoots clean to the branch, they are left an inch
or two long, and in the course of a season or
two all these stubs that you leave will be con-
verted into fruit- spurs. I would practice pruning
if for no other reason than to develop every bud
on all the limbs, and would treat these buds in
such a manner that all would eventually become
fruit-spurs. * * * The third season's pruning,
then, differs from the first and second in leaving
a part of all the growth, instead of taking it off
clean, as in the case of very young trees. I object
to leaving spurs before the third season, for the
reason that by so doing we encourage a fruit-

220 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

ing condition in our trees at too early an age,
and this is the very end we are trying to defeat.

"The necessary pruning during the following
two or three years does not materially differ from
that described for the third year. Let the aim
be a symmetrical low, somewhat round-headed
tree— the top ought not to be too full of wood—
and not too thin! Do not expect that every tree
can be pruned so as to assume an ideal form,
for in this you will be disappointed. No two
trees have exactly the same habit of growth.
Some are tall and close, others spreading and
willowy. All may be vastly improved by an in-
telligent use of the knife during the early years
of the tree's growth. At the age of four or five
years we find cherry, plum, and even apple and
pear, rapidly developing fruit buds. And as
this condition becomes evident, the use of the
knife had better be gradually discontinued. All
the pruning necessary on bearing trees is to en-
courage a proper development of the leading
shoots, and if these are making a growth of over
twenty -four inches annually, they ought to be
shortened -in to encourage a stocky habit of tree.
All weak shoots appearing lower down on the
tree should be cut back to within an inch or two
of the limbs, thereby forming a full and correct
system of fruit -spurs on every part of the tree."

In contrast to this instruction for the low
heading of trees, I insert directions given by T.

SHAPING THE YOUNG TREE 221

G. Yeomans & Sons, of New York, most success-
ful fruit-growers, but who start the limbs of
apple trees not less than six feet from the ground:
"The trees should be carefully examined, and all
broken or bruised roots carefully pruned; and
with apple, standard pear and peach trees not
over seven feet high, every side branch should
be cut away, leaving the tree a straight stem.
The reasons for this are: (1) this pruning will
reduce the top to correspond with the diminished
capacity of the roots, so ."that they will furnish a
full supply of sap, and cause it to stand and grow
vigorously; (2) it will stand more upright, and
not be so liable to be swayed about by the winds,
and allows one to dispense with a stake, which
many recommend for holding the tree in an up-
right position, but which commonly injures, if it
does not destroy, the tree; (3) the buds on the
last year's growth of the upright stem will form
all needed branches, of better form and more
vigorous growth than the old ones would if left
on, and will be at the necessary height from the
ground, as cannot be the case where they are
spurred."

We have already discussed the importance of
pruning near a bud (Figs. 82 and 83), because
the part which projects beyond the bud dies and
remains a dangerous part. We have also found
that trees which are planted in the fall should not
be cut back severely, because the roots, not hav-

222 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

ing a hold upon the soil, cannot supply the mois-
ture which is lost from the wound. The stubs
are, therefore, cut back to a fresh bud in the
spring, just before growth begins, leaving a stub
above the bud not more than a quarter of an inch
in length. Figs. 145 and 146 illustrate the

145. Shaping the top. 146. Shaping the top.

proper pruning of trees with reference to the
buds. It is considered by some pruners to be
important to cut to a bud which stands upon the
outside of the twig, thereby causing the top to
spread. It is usually the top bud which grows,
providing the stub is not dried back and the bud
is strong and healthy. If this top bud is on the
inside of the limb, it does not tend to spread so
far from the perpendicular as one which is on the

SHAPING THE YOUNG TREE

223

outside. Figs. 146 and 147 are made from the
same plant, the latter illustration being taken in
May. It will be seen that the top buds are the
ones which have grown, and that
the tendency of the upper growth
at 3 is more nearly perpendicular
than that at 1. As growth pro-
gresses, however, the shoot 1 will
turn upwards and will very nearly
approach the perpendicular. It is
not often worth the while to pay
much attention to the location of
the upper bud, with re-
spect to the axis of the
shoot, but it is certainly
important to trim back
to a strong, healthy bud.
The illustrations 145
and 146 show the proper method
of leaving the main scaffold
branches. They arise alternately
from the main stem, and there-
fore do not form crotches, and
there is little danger that such
injuries will occur as that shown
in Fig. 105. If it is desired that
the leader shall continue so as to
form a two-storied tree, like that
in Fig, 127, the shoot from the
uppermost bud may be allowed to

147. How the
growth starts.

224

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

grow for this purpose. That is, even though
the leader is cut off, the plant throws out a
new one, as we have already seen (Section 4,
Chapter IV.).:

It is often impossible to start the top in the
form in which we desire, and our ideals may

148. The scaffold limbs.

change from year to year, so that we may be
called upon to modify the form which we at first
projected. It will also be necessary to thin the
top considerably, else too many scaffold limbs
will arise. Fig. 148 shows a Bartlett pear tree
at the end of its second year in the orchard. At
the left, the unpruned tree is shown; and at the
right, all the limbs have been removed except
three, which it is desired shall form the frame-
work of the tree. When set, this tree was cut

SHAPING THE YOUNG TREE

225

back to three limbs, as may be determined by the
method of branching of the specimen upon the
left; and from the end of each of these stubs two
or three branches arose during the next season.
Now that the tree has established itself, and it is
no longer necessary to head -in the young growths,
this forking branching will not occur, and the

IRT1

I/I -H^, • ^ -kj

149. Raising the top.

tree will now need comparatively little attention
in pruning, except, of course, that all the super-
fluous growth shall be removed each year. Fig.
149 shows the treatment of a Bartlett pear which
the owner had started too low. He has now taken
off the lower circles of limbs and has elevated the
top by about a foot, leaving two or three stubs
for the foundation of his growth for the year to
come.

There is more difficulty in starting the tops of

226

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

peach trees than of most other fruits, from the
fact, as has been said, that the trees are usually
pruned too high in the nursery. The trees are
also likely to die back from the top, especially if
they have been set in the fall; and since they
have few buds on their bodies, they may throw
out adventitious shoots near the point of union
of the bud with the stock. Fig. 150 shows a
typical case of this kind, in which the trunk
•A has died back nearly to the ground. The
two lowermost branches arise from the stock and

are, therefore, to be
sacrificed; but the first
strong shoot which
comes from the bud is
allowed to grow, and
all the rest is cut away,
as shown in Fig. 151.
The grower now has
the plant under his con-
trol, and can start the
top where he may
choose. Peach trees
also have a tendency
to throw out strong
growths from one side

and to be blind or dormant on the other side.
Such one-sided growth from the top of a peach
trunk is shown in Fig. 152. In this figure,
the long trunk has been cut back to the

150. A common

fault with peach

trees.

151. How to

manage

it.

AWKWARD PEACH TREES

227

branches, and these branches should now be
headed -in to five or six buds. Strong shoots,
with an upward ;,

tendency, will now \

start from the base
of these branches,
and at the end
of the second year,
a tree something
like that in Fig.
153 may be se-
cured. If it is de-
sired to start the
limbs of a peach tree

Very low, to make a 152. Another trouble
low head, the tree with young peach

should be cut to a trees'

stub a foot or two long when it is planted.

153. How to

correct

it.

ROOT-PRUNING

In order to understand the vexed question of
root -pruning, it is necessary that the subject be
analyzed. We prune the roots

I. Of established plants—

1. To keep the growth within bounds,

particularly when it is desired that the
plant shall be dwarf ;

2. To concentrate or contract the foraging

of the roots;

3. To make plants fruitful.

228 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

II. Of plants which are being transplanted.

We have already found (Section 2, Chap. IV.)
that root -pruning checks growth: it cuts off a
part of the food supply. Checking growth in-
duces fruitfulness (Section 11, Chap. IV.). The
same principles of physiology govern the practice
of root -pruning as that of top -pruning. The
wounds heal by the formation of a callus, germs
of decay enter exposed wounds, new or adventi-
tious roots start as the result of heavy pruning,
the severed leader (or tap-root) tends to renew
itself (see Fig. 115), and the general remarks
respecting seasons for pruning apply to roots with
nearly the same force as to tops. Since roots
have no buds, the new branches do not arise in as
definite order as they do on tops, but this is a mat-
ter of no consequence, for the shape of the root
system is of no practical importance. The direc-
tion of the roots is important, however, — whether
they run horizontally and near the surface, or
perpendicularly. The direction of the roots, how-
ever, is not determined primarily by methods of
pruning, but by the nature of the plant, by the
soil, and the position of moisture and food.

The root -pruning of established plants is prac-
ticable only on a small scale. It is practiced in
amateur plantations, or in those cases in which
it is desired to keep plants within definite bounds
or shapes. It is essentially a garden idea. It is
practiced in European enclosures, in the growing

ROOT -PRUNING 229

of trees to pyramids, cordons, 011 espaliers, and
the like (see Chapter VI.). By cutting the roots,
they are kept within a prescribed area, and do not
interfere with other plants. The tops of the plants
are thereby checked of exuberant growth, and are
more manageable on walls and trellises. In
Europe, these small bearing trees are often taken
up and replanted, in order to keep them within
bounds. In the well tilled gardens, and in cool
and moist climates, it is often thought to be de-
sirable to keep the roots near the surface ; but in
American orchard conditions it is desirable that
the roots strike deep.

In the large -area or field conditions under
which American fruits are grown, root -pruning
is rarely necessary or even useful. Under such
conditions, the plant takes its natural habit and
reaches its normal stature, and fruit -bearing comes
naturally with the maturity of the plant ; or, if
fruit -bearing does not come,, the fundamental
treatment lies in correcting faults of tillage, soil,
varieties, or other cardinal matters. In our
country, root -pruning may be associated with
ringing or girdling, and such other special opera-
tions which may be used experimentally now and
then, when other means have failed. It is of
special rather than of general importance.

The European books and periodicals contain
many detailed instructions for root -pruning, and
to these the reader should go if he desires ex-

230 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

plicit information on practices. A single typical
quotation is here inserted to show the general
nature of the advice.

"Root-pruning of pyramidal pear trees on quince stocks.*
— Before entering on the subject of root -pruning of pear
trees on quince stocks, I must premise that handsome and
fertile pyramids, more particularly of some free -bearing
varieties, may be reared without this annual or biennial
operation. If the annual shoots of the tree are not more
than eight or ten inches long, no root -pruning need be
done. I have a large plantation of pear trees on the
quince stock, which have been made very handsome and
fertile pyramids, yet they have not been root-pruned,
neither do I intend to root -prune them. But I wish to
impress upon my readers that my principal object is to
make trees fit for small gardens, and to instruct those
who are not blessed with a large garden how to keep the
trees perfectly under control : and this can best be done
by annual, or at least biennial attention to their roots ;
for if a tree be suffered to grow three or more years, and
then be root-pruned, it will receive a check if the spring
be dry, and the crop of fruit for one season will be jeop-
ardized. Therefore, those who are disinclined to the
annual operation, and yet wish to confine the growth of
their trees within limited bounds by root -pruning, say
once in two years, should only operate upon half of their
trees one season ; they will thus have the remaining half
in an unchecked bearing state ; and those who have ample
room and space may pinch their pyramids in summer, and
suffer them to grow to a height of fifteen or twenty feet
without pruning their roots. I have seen avenues of such
trees in Belgium, really quite imposing. In rich soils,
where the trees grow so freely as to make shoots eighteen

*Thomas Rivers, "The Miniature Fruit Garden."

ROOT - PRUNING 231

inches in length in one season, they may be root-pruned
annually with great advantage.

"The following summary will perhaps convey my ideas
respecting the management of pyramids and bushes when
cultivated as garden trees. In small gardens with rich
soils, either root-prune or remove all the trees annually
early in November. In larger gardens, perform the same
operation biennially at the same season. For very large
gardens with a dry, good subsoil, in which all kinds of
fruit trees grow without any tendency to canker, and when
large trees are desired, neither remove nor root-prune,
but pinch the shoots in summer, thin them in winter when
they become crowded, and thus make your trees symmet-
rical and fruitful.

"Pyramidal pear trees on the quince stock, where the
fruit garden is small, the soil rich, and when the real
gardening artist feels pleasure in keeping them in a
healthy and fruitful state by perfect control over the
roots, should be annually operated upon as follows : A
trench should be dug around the tree, about eighteen
inches from its stem, every autumn, just after the fruit is
gathered if the soil be sufficiently moist,— if not, it will
be better to wait till the usual autumnal rains have
fallen ; the roots should then be carefully examined, and
those inclined to be of perpendicular growth cut with the
spade, which must be introduced quite under the tree to
meet on all sides, so that no root can possibly escape
amputation. All the horizontal roots should be shortened
with a knife to within a circle of eighteen inches from
the stem, and all brought as near to the surface as possi-
ble, filling in the trench with compost for the roots to
rest on. The trench may then be filled with the compost
(well -rotted dung and the mold from an old hotbed,
equal parts, will answer exceedingly well); the surface
should then be covered with some half-rotted dung and
the roots left till the following autumn brings its annual

232 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

care. It may be found that, after a few years of root-
pruning, the circumferential mass of fibers will have be-
come too much crowded with small roots ; in such cases,
thin out some of the roots, shortening them at nine inches
or one foot from the stem. This will cause them to give
out fibers, so that the entire circle of three feet or more
around the tree will be full of fibrous roots near the surface,
waiting with open mouths for the nourishment annually
given to them by surface dressings and liquid manure.

"Thus far for the gardener who does not mind extra
trouble,— who, in short, feels real pleasure in every opera-
tion that tends to make his trees perfect in fruitfulness and
symmetry. But it is not every amateur gardener that can
do this, nor is it always required in the south of England,
except for small gardens and in rich, moist soils, in which
pear trees are inclined to grow too vigorously. But with
our too often cool, moist summers in the northern counties,
annual root-pruning is quite necessary to make the trees
produce well-ripened wood. In other cases, as I have be-
fore observed, shortening the shoots in summer, taking care
to produce a handsome pyramidal form, and if they are
inclined to grow vigorously, biennial root-pruning, will be
quite sufficient."

ROOT -PRUNING WHEN TRANSPLANTING. — Root-

pruning results from the removal of plants. That
is, it is practically impossible to dig up plants of
any size— as shrubs or trees — without cutting some
of the roots. The severed roots, when as large
as a lead pencil, should be cut back to live, un-
injured wood, and the wound should be clean-cut.
This is to ensure rapid healing. How short the
roots shall be cut is a problem to be settled for
each case, in the same way as the similar problem

DO ROOTS STRIKE FROM THE CALLUS ? 233

respecting the proper length to leave the branches.
In general, it may be said that the main roots of

154. Roots do not start from the callus.

trees two to four years old may be left six to
eight inches long.

There is much discussion as to where the new
roots arise in transplanted trees. It should first
be said that the roots do not necessarily arise
from the callus,* although this is the almost uni-

*See also, L. C. Corbett, 9th Ann. Rep. W. Va. Exp. Sta., 196.

234 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

versal notion. In fact, they very rarely, if ever,
arise as an outgrowth of the callus tissue. From
an apple tree two years old, one side of the root
was shaved. The tree was planted, and after
growing two years, was taken up and photo-
graphed (Fig. 154). The callus had formed on
both sides of the wound, but no roots had started
from it.

The new roots usually arise from firm, strong
roots the size of a lead pencil or larger; but they
may also arise from the hair -like roots which are
on the tree when it is transplanted, although the
common opinion is to the contrary. The place
from which the new roots arise is largely deter-
mined by the habit of the individual plant. In
some cases, all the roots will spring from the main
shaft or trunk, and in others they seem to arise
almost indiscriminately from the trunk, large
roots and very fine roots. The figures, carefully
drawn, from actual examples of apple trees, illus-
trate the point. The root shown in Fig. 155 was
trimmed of all its fine roots when transplanted.
It is seen that the new roots start from various
parts of the root system. The root in Fig. 156
had some small, but not very fine, roots left. The
new roots are starting from near the ends of these
roots, large and small alike. (See also Fig. 161.)
In none of these cases do the roots start from the
calluses. The common notion that roots will start
directly downward if the old roots are cut diago-

DO ROOTS FORM PROM THE CALLUS? 235

nally on the under side, so that the callus looks
downwards, is a fallacy. The direction of the
roots, as already said (page 228), is determined

155. Where the new
roots start.

156. Where the new
roots start.

by the nature of the plant, the texture of the
soil, and by the water and food supply. The
position of the callus does not influence it.
As a matter of practice, it is generally inad-

236 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

visable to exercise much care to save the very fine
roots when transplanting shrubs and trees, for
such roots are apt to be killed by short exposure
to the weather, and to be injured in shipping and
transplanting ; but the common notion that they
are of no use in a transplanted tree, and that
new roots do not arise from them, is false.

Within the past few years a so-called system
of close root -pruning has been advocated in this
country. It is the result of the experiments and
writings of H. M. Stringfellow, of Texas, and
has come to be known as the Stringfellow or
stub -root system. It cuts off practically all the
roots, leaving only stubs an inch or two long ;
and it cuts back the tops to a mere stump twelve
to eighteen inches high. This method of treat-
ing trees at transplanting time has been the
subject of writings which are distinguished more
for their controversial spirit and their evident
attempt to uphold an hypothesis than for any
clear analysis of the subject. The best exposi-
tion of the subject is contained in Stringfellow's
"New Horticulture", published in 1896.*

There seem to be three leading conceptions

*Some of the current writings may be found in Texas Farm and
Ranch, 1895, reprinted in Galveston Tribune, Dec. 20, 1895 ; Fruit
Growers' Journal, Feb. 15, 1894, Feb. 1 and May 1, 1896 ; California
Fruit Grower, May 30, 1896. Excellent contributions in support of the
method, by T. L. Brunk, may be found in American Farmer, July 15,
1892, and Fruit-Growers' Journal, Jan. 15, 1896. Report of experiments
is made in Bull. 39, Texas Exp. Sta , by R. H. Price.

THE STRINGFELLOW THEORY 237

upon which the superiority of this stub -root sys-
tem is assumed to rest : Seedling non- trans-
planted trees are longer -lived, hardier and
healthier than the trees of orchards ; this su-
periority is largely due to the presence of a tap-
root system ; the nearer the transplanted tree is
reduced to the form of a young seedling or cut-
ting, the greater is its tendency to develop a
tap-root system. All these categories are mere
assumptions. The old seedling trees at which
we wonder are a few out of many. For every
one that has reached a hale old age, hundreds
have probably perished; and since the dead are
not in evidence, we enlarge the exception into
the rule. As a matter of fact, the orchards of
to-day, at least in the East, are more uniformly
healthy and productive than the seedling or-
chards of other days. In our time, every
break in the orchard is missed and commented
upon ; in those times, the breaks were of small
consequence.*

In the second place, a tap-root is not an in-

*A fuller discussion of this question may be read in Essay XX.,
"Survival of the Unlike". Mr. Stringfellow cites such seedlings as the
original tree of Sudduth pear and Mammoth Black Twig apple. It
would be interesting to know what has become of all the other seed-
ling pears and apples which presumably started at about the same time.
Such trees are isolated facts, not averages; they do not necessarily
show laws or tendencies. It is easy to find such patriarchs among
grafted and transplanted trees. For example, the so-called original
Tompkins County King apple is a grafted and transplanted tree, and
it still bears well, although about seventy years old, and outliving
most of its progeny.

238 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

variable attribute of seedlings, any more than
a distinct leader is always an attribute of their
tops. Some plants have tap-roots and some do
not. They vary in this regard, as they do in
stature, form, kind of fruit, or habit of growth.
When seedlings first start, they usually have a
tap-root, but this tap-root tends to vanish as the
root system enlarges and becomes diffuse, in the
same way that the leader in the top may be lost.
There is no evidence that a tree necessarily
thrives better if it has a tap-root (see page 151).

In the third place, a tap-root does not form
merely because the roots are cut long or short,
or in one way or another. If it is the habit
of a plant to develop a tap-root, it will generally
do so, even after its original tap is cut (Fig.
115), unless prevented by some peculiarity of soil.
It will generally throw down two or even several
tap-roots instead of one. It must follow, how-
ever, that in short -pruned roots, these new
leaders will be very close together and approxi-
mately under the main shaft of the tree, and
therefore appear to constitute a truer tap-root
system than when they arise at some distance to
the side of the main shaft ; and it is probable
that the centermost ones will tend to be the
stronger.

The gist of the whole matter, so far as the
theory is concerned, is that individual instances
and the results of certain experiments have been

STUB -ROOT PRUNING

239

enlarged into an hypothesis which has been ap-
plied to all plants. The stub-root system is
really not a system at all. It is not founded
on a body of principles. It is a matter of
practice, which will sometimes be useful and

157. Stringfellow's model.

158. The wrong ideal.

sometimes not. Its success depends on local and
incidental conditions. It would be as true to say
that because many people find the pyramidal
training of dwarf pears to be useful, therefore
it is necessarily best everywhere and for all
species and varieties.

The accompanying pictures, from Stringfellow s
"New Horticulture," show the method of this
stub -root pruning. Fig. 157 is the correct form,
— "cut back just below the collar, and just under
the first good side roots." We should "not leave
any length of the main or tap-root, with side

240

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

roots cut back,"* as in Fig. 158. It is impossible
to cut Fig. 158 to the form of Fig. 157, because
the root did not grow in the same way.
This is true of most trees, especially if
budded stock ; they cannot be cut ac-
cording to directions. Peach trees lend
themselves most readily to this form ;
also cutting -grown pear trees (such as
are grown in the South). The theory
is that the new roots arise from the
under surfaces of roots which are cut
as in Fig. 157, and then grow directly
downwards. Fig. 159 is Brunk's model
of a peach tree properly trimmed, show-
ing both root and top, the whole being
only fifteen inches long. -Fig. 160 shows
the results which Mr. Stringfellow secures
from stub -roots and long roots.

In 1896, experiments on
the stub -root pruning were
begun at Cornell, and these
are now reported. This
account of the tests is in-
serted more for the purpose
of affording concrete in-
stances with which to discuss
the statements advanced in
support of stub -root prun-

159. Brunk's
model.

*"Hold the tree top down, and cut all roots back to about an inch,
sloping the cuts so that when the tree is set the exit surface is down-

STUB -ROOT PRUNING 241

ing than to make a record of an experiment.
Not all the trees were trimmed in the String-
fellow fashion, for other problems than mere
stub -root pruning were in mind. Besides the
four hundred trees here reported, the roots of
two hundred apple trees were cut in different

160. Results of stub-root and long-root pruning (after

Stringfellow). No. 1, trimmed to stubs ; No. 2, ordinary

long roots.

ways, in order that the formation of the new
root system might be studied. The trees were
commercial northern -grown, and were set in a
moist and well -tilled sandy loam. They were
set on the 4th of May, which was as early as

wards. Experience has shown that the roots are generally emitted per-
pendicularly to the plane or surface of the cut. This final pruning should
be done shortly before planting, so as to present a fresh surface for the
callus to form on. If trees are to be kept some time, or shipped by a
nurseryman, abftut two inches of root should be left, the planter to cut
back as directed when the tree is set. About a foot of top should be left.
More or less makes no difference. If the tree is well staked, three feet
may be left without diminishing the growth much."— Stringfe llow in
"The New Horticulture," 85.

242

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

the ground could be fitted. Every care was taken
to have all the conditions ideal and uniform. One
hundred trees were set each of peach, plum, pear

and apple. Each kind was
divided into four or five
lots, one lot being cut
very short, and the others
successively longer, until
the last lot, in which the
roots were not trimmed.
The weather for the first
month after planting was
hot and dry, but the land
was frequently tilled to
conserve the moisture.

The trees were photo-
graphed before being
planted, and some of
them were removed at
intervals and again pho-
161. New roots start tographed. In this way,

from both the trunk and the the prOCCSS of root form-
fine roots. ation

g carefully studied.

It was found, as I have already indicated (pages
228, 235), that neither the place of origin of
the new roots nor the direction of them was
determined by the mode of pruning. Fig. 161
is an apple root trimmed to a simple stub, with
some of the fine side roots, a, left on. The new
roots arose both from the main trunk and from

STRINGFELLOW ROOT - PRUNING

243

the small rootlets, and none of them arose from
the callus ; and there was no tendency for them
to arise from the lower end of the stub (compare
Figs. 154, 155, 156).
Two similar apple trees
were trimmed in differ-
ent ways, and a month
after planting they were
taken up and engravings
made. The close-pruned
specimen (Fig. 162) was
barely alive, but the
other (Fig. 163) was
making a good growth.
The roots shown in
Figs. 161 and 162 are
not of the form pre-
scribed by Mr. String-
fellow, nor is it possi-
ble to prune most strong
New -York -grown trees
in that fashion. How-
ever, many of the trees
had strong lateral roots,
and with these care was
taken to copy the ortho-
dox form; and some ff
of these are illustrated.
For example, Fig. 164

162. Reduced
to a cutting.

163. Better results

shows the roots of four with roots left.

244

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

average peach trees after they had grown two
seasons. The one at the left was trimmed to
the form advised in Fig. 157, and yet it was
the most shallow -rooted of all the trees ; and

164. Typical results in peach trees.

many other trees told the same story. Yet this
mode of pruning has for its object "to con-
centrate all the vital energy of the newly set
tree on a limited root -surf ace, and compel it to
strike several strong, perpendicular tap-roots,
and while doing this, not to allow its attention
to be diverted to forming side or lateral roots
at the same time."*

Some of the facts of this experiment at Cornell
may be presented in the following form (the
planting dates being in May, 1896, and the final
notes taken December, 1897) :

*Stringfellow, "New Horticulture," 100.

ROOT -PRUNING PEACHES 245

PEACH (HORTON EIVERS)

(Twenty trees in each lot)

A. Roots normal, six inches long. Sixteen lived. All roots

had a strong downward tendency. See right-hand
root in Fig. 164. Average weight of trees, December,
1897, seventeen pounds.

B. Roots cut to four and one-half inches long. Eighteen

lived. The strongest, thriftiest, most shapely trees
in any of the lots. Roots all striking downwards.

C. Roots cut to three inches long. Fifteen lived. Ten had

downward -growing roots, and five had very flat or
horizontal root systems.

D. Roots cut to two inches long. Nine lived. Five had down-

ward-growing roots and four had horizontal roots.

E. Roots cut to one inch long. Twelve lived. Six had roots

with downward tendency, and six had all roots almost
perfectly horizontal. The three left-hand specimens in
Fig. 164 are from this lot E. The tree on the extreme
left weighed one pound fourteen ounces, and rep-
resents an average specimen. The second from the
left weighed five pounds eight ounces, and is the
best tree in the lot. The third from the left is the
only one in the lot that had a distinct tap-root. It
weighed four pounds five ounces.

From first to last, the moderately pruned trees
were clearly the best, and the stub -root trees were
poor and weak, even after two years7 growth.

PEAR (BARTLETT)

(Twenty-five trees in each lot)

A. Normal. Roots six to eight inches long. Twenty-one
lived; sixteen first-class trees.

246

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

B. Tap -root not trimmed; side roots two to three inches

long. Twenty -two lived ; sixteen first-class trees. The
best lot. & and &&, Fig. 165, are average roots; &
weighed three pounds eight ounces, and && three
pounds twelve ounces.

C. Tap-root not trimmed; side roots one inch long. Fifteen

lived; seven first-class trees. A poor lot.

D. Tap-root cut to six inches; side roots one inch long.

Fifteen lived; 1 first-class tree, d, Fig. 165, was the
dd d bb b

165. Typical results in pear trees.

only tree in the lot worth saving, dd shows a tree still
living after having been in the ground two years, but
it had made no roots whatever. It was trimmed to a
bare stump when set. Six trees behaved in this way,
and only two of them made a callus on the wound.
The tops did not grow, but they supported a few
leaves. The stub -root probably absorbed a little
moisture, and there was some food stored in the wood,
so that the plant was able to live.

SHORT -ROOT PRUNING

247

PLUM (LOMBARD, BUDDED ON MYROBALAN ROOTS)

(Twenty-five trees in each lot)

A. Normal. Tap-root, eight inches; side roots, three to six

inches. Twenty-three lived. Right-hand specimen in
Fig. 166 is an average root. Weight of tree and root,
five pounds ten ounces.

B. Tap, six inches; side, two to four inches. Twenty-three

lived.

C. Tap, four inches; side, two inches. Twenty-four lived.

D. Tap, four inches; sides, one inch. Twenty-two lived.

Left-hand specimen, Fig. 166, is an average root.
Weight six pounds ten ounces.

All the lots were remarkably uniform in size
and thriftiness. From the tops it would have

166. Stub-root and long-root on plum.

been difficult to distinguish them. The short-
pruned roots gave the shallowest root systems,
however. It is easy to account for the large size
of the short -pruned trees, for the Myrobalan plum
grows readily from cuttings.

248

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

APPLE (HUBBARDSTON, BUDDED STOCK)
(Twenty-Jive trees in each lot)

A. Normal. Roots six to eight inches. Twenty lived; sev-

enteen first-class; a, Fig. 167, average specimen, one
pound fourteen ounces.

B. Roots two to three inches long, and tap not cut. Eigh-

teen lived; thirteen first-class. &, Fig. 167, average

167. Average results on apple trees.

specimen (a good root system!), one pound fourteen
ounces.

C. Roots one inch long, and tap not cut. Twenty lived;

twelve first-class, c, Fig. 167, best specimen in the
lot, two pounds eleven ounces.

D. Roots one inch long, and tap cut back, thirteen lived;

four good trees, but not first-class, and four more with
fairly good roots but poor tops, d, Fig. 167, average
and typical specimen.

THE STRINGFELLOW METHOD 249

In all these trees, except the Myrobalan plum
roots, the short -root pruning was a decided dis-
advantage. Yet there is no contradicting the fact
that others have obtained good results from it,
and it has been put to a successful commercial
test. All this shows, as has been said (page 238),
that stub -root pruning is to be considered a mat-
ter of local practice, not a matter of general
principle. The practice may be good and it may
not : the explanation or assumed theory is wrong.
It will probably be found to be best adapted to
the South, where plants grow from cuttings more
readily than in the North ; and the nature of the
land as respects texture, and the nearness of the
water-table, will probably influence the result.
The kind of tree may also be important. The
stubbing -back of the top is a disadvantage to
those who desire to grow long -bodied trees.

It is always well to challenge established prac-
tices and accepted theories, for thereby we make
progress. In this respect, Mr. Stringfellow and
his followers have no doubt done a distinct ser-
vice.* Perhaps we have placed too great value on
a large root -system when transplanting trees, and

*Aside from its merits as a matter of pruning, Mr. Stringfellow sees
the following advantages of stub-roots: (l) Saving the nurseryman in
digging his stock; (2) Saving in packing the stock; (3) Saving in trans-
portation; (4) Saving in planting; (5) Reducing danger of carrying in-
sects and diseases; (6) Enables the planter to set extra large trees, which
the nurseryman now has to throw away, and thus obtain fruit much
sooner.

250 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

our opinions may need to be revised; but it does
not follow that the opposite extreme is the better.
The writer prefers trees with roots on ; but he has
no quarrel with those who prefer them with roots off.

SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT OF THE PLANTS

Having now obtained a general conception of
the type of tree which we wish to grow, and
having started off the main or scaffold branches,
the subsequent treatment consists in cutting out
all interfering and superfluous limbs and keep-
ing the top within the shape which we have in
mind. It is impossible to give specific advice
as to wrhat branches should be cut, for every
branch is a problem in itself, and must be solved
for itself. In fruit trees, the head should be
kept fairly open, so that all parts are exposed
to sun and air, and the tree is made accessible
to pickers, and easy to spray. All limbs which
tend to make an over -vigorous growth should
be cut out or checked, in order that the tree may
keep its balance, and limbs which run directly
crosswise the top, and those which rub each
other, should be removed.

Some of the problems connected with the form
of the top may be suggested in a series of pic-
tures taken from an individual tree of Rhode
Island Greening. This tree was set in the spring
of 1889. Having grown two years without prun-

BEHAVIOR OF A GREENING TREE

251

ing, in the fall of 1890 it looked like Fig. 168.
In the winter of 1890-1 it was pruned, as shown
in Fig. 169. The tree stands in rich soil and
has made a heavy growth. As the top begins

168. Greening tree of two
seasons' growth (1890).

169. The same
pruned.

to expand, the apparent length of the trunk
decreases, and in the fall of 1892 the tree looked
as shown in Fig. 170 ; that is, tops which
may appear to be very high when trees are
young may appear to be low when the trees have

170. The same tree, two years later (fall of 1892).

171. The tree again pruned.

BEHAVIOR OF A GREENING TREE 253

attained some age. All these pictures (168-174)
are drawn with great care to a scale, and the
length of trunk bears a true proportion to the
width of the top in every case. In the winter
of 1892-3 the tree, as shown in Fig. 170, was
pruned to the extent shown in Fig. 171, and the

172. The same tree starting into growth (1893).

following summer (that is, 1893) the tree had
the form shown in Fig. 172. Late in the season
of 1894 the tree was drawn again, as shown in
Fig. 173. The following winter it was again
pruned, and in the spring of 1895 it had the
appearance of Fig. 174. It will be seen that the
long and stilt -like character of the tree has wholly

173. The tree in the fall of 1894.

174. In the spring of 1895, having been pruned in
the winter.

PRUNING YOUNG APPLE TREES

255

disappeared, and the very perceptible crook in
the trunk has tended to straighten. The tree
now begins to have character, and its four scaf-
fold limbs are well established. The tree is not
ideal in form, however, since it has too much

175. Tetofsky apple tree.

176. The Tetofsky pruned.

of a crotch ; and at the present time a living
brace has been interwoven between the two
crotches, as shown in Fig. 109.

A Tetofsky apple tree, two years planted, is
shown in Fig. 175. It is a variety which makes
very few strong interior growths, and therefore
needs comparatively little thinning. It is already

177. Longfleld apple, four years set.

179. Windsor cherry, four years set. 180. The tree pruned.

PRUNING YOUNG APPLE TREES 257

making conspicuous fruit -spurs alongside the
upright branches. The pruning of the tree is
shown in Fig. 176. There are three main or
scaffold limbs. Some of the other branches,
which are left, it may be necessary to remove
as time goes on ; but it is always difficult to
determine in the beginning just which ones are

181. Well-formed pie cherry.

wanted, and it is well not to trim the tree too
heavily, so as to reduce its leaf-bearing capacity,
and to set it into too strong growth of water-
sprouts.

A Longfleld apple tree is shown in Fig. 177.
The variety has a weeping habit, and the effort
must be to encourage the upper limbs and to
remove the lower or drooping

Q *f " OF TRK

UNIVERSITY

S>F

trn

258

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

is done is shown in Fig. 178. The tree was
started too low in the first place, and it has a
bad crotch ; and later on, the large fork on
the right was entirely removed. It then had

182. Apricot in need of pruning.

PRUNING OF YOUNG TREES

259

183. One way of treating Fig. 182.

a good form, but the tree is now weeping as
much as ever ; that is, it is impossible to over-
come the natural habit of the tree, and however
high the Longfield may be trained, it will eventu-
ally reach nearly or quite to the ground.

A sweet cherry (the Windsor) is shown in Figs.

260 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

179 and 180. This also has a bad crotch, and
eventually one of the branches was cut away,
as shown in A, Fig. 180, leaving a tree of good
form, with the branches started about four feet
high. The general thinning of the top, as shown
in Fig. 180, is perhaps about right. A sour
cherry (Early Richmond) is shown, after prun-
ing, in Fig. 181. This tree has an almost ideal
type of branching, and' the pruning is about as
near perfect as we can ordinarily make it.

An apricot tree is shown in Figs. 182 and
183. This tree grows against the south side of
a building, although it is not trained on the
wall. It is desired, therefore, to have a very
flat and spreading top. The branches were
started low, but they arise too nearly from a
common point, thereby making a bad crotch,
yet the apricot is less likely to split than trees
which bear heavier loads of fruit. The tree
was neglected for three or four years, and when
pruning became necessary, it was thinned out to
the extent shown in Fig. 183. The head can
thereafter be kept free and open with only a
slight amount of annual cutting.

A neglected peach tree, four years planted,
is shown in Fig. 184. It is very thick, and some
of the lower branches are weak and almost dead
because they have been overshaded by the dense
top. This tree was pruned to the form shown
in Fig. 185, and is now a handsome and prolific

184. Neglected peach tree, four years set. 185. The tree pruned.

186. Two-year-set peach tree, before
pruning (Hale).

187. The peach tree pruned
and headed-back.

262

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

tree. Figs. 186 and 187 are adapted from photo-
graphs published by J. H. Hale, to show the

•..-•-

188. Headed-back upon transplanting.

methods of treating a peach tree. In Fig. 187,
the tree has been thinned and headed -back.

In the transplanting of large or established
trees, it is very necessarv that the tops be headed-

TOP -WORKED TREES 263

back, and the more serious the cutting of the
roots, the more extensive should be the cutting-
in of the top. Fig. 188 shows a six -year -old
cherry tree which has been cut back after trans-
planting. In all such cases, it is important
that old and dry stubs are not left on the trees.
The stubs should be cut back from time to time
as new branches start, always giving preference
to the strong growth, and cutting out the feeble
wood.

MANAGEMENT OF TOP-WORKED TREES

When trees are top -budded or top -grafted, it is
usually the purpose to change their entire top to
the new variety. The methods of performing
the work, and the general position of the buds or
grafts, are somewhat fully discussed in the last
edition of "The Nursery -Book." In old trees it
is generally desirable to graft all the leading
limbs, thereby endeavoring to maintain the origi-
nal shape as nearly as possible. In young trees,
only two or three of the limbs can be grafted or
budded, and sometimes the whole top is cut off
and the main stock or trunk is grafted. The
grafting of the main trunk has some disadvan-
tages, because a bad fork is apt to occur at the
graft, and it is usually better, therefore, to set
the cions or buds in the branches. Fig. 189 shows
the treatment of a small apple tree which is top-
budded. Three buds are inserted, one in the

264

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

main trunk or leader, and one in each of the two
side branches. The buds are inserted in summer,

189. Top-budded apple tree.

and early the next spring the limbs are cut a
quarter of an inch above each bud, as in A. Fig.
190 shows another tree in which many buds have
been set, all of which are growing. It shows that
the stubs project beyond the buds. As soon as the

TOP -WORKED TREES

265

190. Top-budded apple tree.

buds have begun to grow vigorously, these stubs
should be cut back close to the base of the new
branch, to facilitate their healing over.

266

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

A strong pear tree was grafted in three limbs.
The grafting was done in April. In September
of the same year, the tree looked as shown in
Fig. 191, being very much entangled with strong

Lv^

191. Top-grafted pear.

watersprouts, because of the severe pruning. Be-
fore growth began the following spring, all of
this adventitious growth was removed, the tree
then looking like Fig. 192. Some of the branches
of the stock were left, since the grafts were not
yet large enough to form the whole top. If too
much of the stock is cut off the cions tend to

TOP -WORKED TREES 267

grow too long, and are likely to be broken by
snow and wind.

In trees which have been set only two to four
years, the top can be changed in two years ;

192. The pear tree pruned.

but apple trees which are fifteen or twenty years
old can ordinarily not be changed so rapidly.
Four or five years may be required in some cases.
Fig. 193 is a Lombard plum tree which was
grafted to a Japanese variety. The tree was four
years old when grafted, and the second year there-

193. A plum tree changed to
a new variety.

194. In need of
attention.

TOP -WORKED TREES 269

after all the old top was removed, as shown in
the illustration. It will now be necessary to cut
off some of the cions and to thin out the top,
much as if the tree were recently planted.

It is always essential that the operator look out
for adventitious growths or suckers from the
stock, after the tree has been changed to the de-
sired variety. The equilibrium of the tree has
been so much upset by the heavy pruning that
these watersprouts and auxiliary growths may
arise for several years. Fig. 194 is a Kilmarnock
willow. This is a weeping variety, which is
grafted upon a strong, upright -growing stock.
In this case, the stock has thrown out long
suckers, and the drooping head is beginning to
famish and die. These suckers should be removed
as soon as they begin to form, else good results
cannot be obtained with the cion. This trouble
of suckering from the stock is very apt to occur
in ornamental plants, as in top -worked weeping
and variegated varieties. Such varieties are gen-
erally weak growers, and cannot take up the
exuberant strength of the root.

MANAGEMENT OF DWARF TREES

Dwarf plants are those which do not attain
to the normal or habitual stature of the species
or variety to which they belong. There are two
general categories of dwarf plants, — dwarf va-
rieties, and dwarf individuals. The former class

270 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

retains its dwarf ness of itself, without artificial
aid. It is the nature of such plants to be dwarf.
The manner of their origin is usually obscure,
and it appeals to the plant -breeder.* The sec-
ond class is forced to be dwarf by some treat-
ment which is applied to each individual plant.
Plants are dwarfed by three means, —

By grafting or budding on a slower -growing

root ;
By confining the tops by means of pruning or

training ;

By confining the roots by means of pruning or
by growing in pots, boxes, or other re-
stricted place.

The first category is not a subject for discussion
in a pruning -book, but it may be said that it is
not enough that the plant be worked on slow-
growing root: it must also be systematically
headed -in if its stature is to be kept within
bounds. This is true of dwarf pears, dwarf
apples, dwarf cherries, and all the rest.

Root -pruning, as a means of limiting growth,
has already been discussed (page 227) . In prac-
tice, it is nearly unknown in this country. In
small areas it can be employed, but it is inappli-
cable to our commercial plantations.

*A discussion of dwarfs from the bi-eeder's standpoint may be
found in "Plant-Breeding;" from the propagator's standpoint, in "The
Nursery-Book;" and from the fruit-grower's standpoint, in "Principles of
Fruit-Growing."

PRUNING DWARF TREES 271

Top -pruning of a dwarf has two objects, — to
limit the growth, and to train the plant to some
desired form. Pruning to limit growth is merely
heading -back. This should be done every winter.
How much the growth shall be headed -back de-
pends on its length and the age of the tree.
Dwarf pears and apples which make an average
growth of eighteen to thirty inches on their
uppermost twigs are usually headed -back a half
to five -sixths of that growth. This cutting-
back will induce a lateral or interior growth (Sec-
tion 9, Chap. IV.), and this must be thinned out.
It is generally best to prune very late in winter
or early in spring, and to cut to within three-
eighths inch of a bud (see Figs. 82, 83).

Pruning to secure some desired shape of the
top must, of course, be governed by the ideal of
the operator. There are two general forms to
which dwarf fruit trees are pruned, — the pyra-
mid and the inverted cone. The pyramid is
popular in Europe, and the Old World writings
contain minute descriptions of the details of
pruning for this ideal. Fig. 195 shows dwarf
pear pyramids in the grounds of the Royal Hor-
ticultural Society, at Chiswick, England. The
essential feature of this type of training is a
central shaft from which successive tiers of
branches are taken.

The flat -topped or inverted -cone -shaped style
of training is the commonest ideal in commercial

272

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

American orchards, although there are few plan-
tations in which it has been systematically worked
out. Probably the best example of it in America
is the orchard of T. G. Yeomans & Sons, Wai-
worth, New York, an orchard which is still vig-

195. Pyramidal training of dwarf pears. England.

orous and productive, although it has been com-
mercially successful for nearly half a century
(planted in 1852). Good trees from this planta-
tion are shown in Fig. 196. The essential feature
of this type of training — which the writer believes
to be the best for American conditions — is a
framework of several approximately coordinate
branches arising near the ground.

DWARF PEARS

273

Since the Yeomanses have been so successful
with dwarf pears, it will be profitable to study
their description of the method of pruning, and

#•

196. Flat-topped training of dwarf pears. New York.

These trees were forty-five years old when the

picture was taken.

especially so, also, since this account seems to be
the clearest exposition of dwarf pear pruning
for commercial orchards which is accessible to
the American student:*

"Experience has convinced me that, with good trees of
well chosen varieties, on any good land, which is never too
wet, and with the culture a good farmer gives his other
crops, and the important — nay, more, the indispensable —
requisite to success,— thorough pruning,— no one need fail

*This sketch is a copyrighted article published in the nursery circulars
of T. G. Yeomans & Sons, at the time when the firm was in the nur-
sery business. Reprinted by permission.

274 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

of attaining a degree of success highly satisfactory and
profitable.

" A dwarf pear tree should never be planted at one year
old. A good one-year-old tree consists of a single upright
shoot or stem, from three and one -half to five feet high,
and should be cut off at about two feet from the ground;
and in order to give a smooth, handsome stem or trunk, let
the buds be rubbed off to the height of one foot from the
ground, leaving on the upper portion six to nine buds,
more or less. With, the tree standing in its original posi-
tion in full vigor, and cut back as above stated, each one of
these buds will throw out a good, strong branch, which gives
a full, round, distaff form to the tree. This is the time and
manner, and the only time, when that desirable shape can
be given on which the future form and symmetry and
beauty depends. To avoid what is termed a crotched or
forked-top tree, in which the two uppermost branches are
about of equal vigor and height, let the second branch
from the top be pinched off when about nine inches or a
foot long, which will check and weaken it, while the upper-
most one becomes a strong, central leader. Whereas, if
the tree be transplanted at one year old, and cut back as
above stated, the vital forces of the tree will be weakened
half or three -fourths by transplanting, and as the result,
only two or three (more or less) of the buds on the trunk
will grow so as to form branches, and they, perhaps, only at
the top or all on one side, while the remaining buds remain
dormant, never afterwards to be developed, as the other
branches form new channels, which will more readily carry
the sap to the other and upper portions of the trees.

"For transplanting, therefore, let a tree be two or more
years old from the bud, well cut back at one year old, and
with six to nine main branches, which form the framework
or foundation, which is to give form and character to the
future tree, with proper care and management.

"The annexed cut (Fig. 197) will illustrate a two-year-old

DWARF PEARS

275

tree, as above described, its lower branches about one foot
from the ground, its upper branches being the strongest and
most upright, and those below less vigorous and more hori-
zontal. I speak of this more
particularly for the reason
that all the cuts which I have
noticed in works on pomology,
and in agricultural papers
represent a two-year-old tree,
with branches much the long-
est and strongest at the bot-
tom and diminishing in vigor
towards the top, except, per-
haps, the center top branch ;
while all experience illustrates
the principle that the sap flows
most freely and readily to the
upper branches, giving them
vigor, strength and upright-
ness, to the diminution of the
same characteristics in those

below. The dotted lines indicate where the branches
should be cut back at the time of planting.

"In cutting a tree, with the branches formed as above
described, let the leader be cut down within four or six
inches of the place where the one-year-old tree was cut off,
and just above a good bud on the side of the tree over the
previous year's cut, thus keeping the leader in a perpen-
dicular position over the original trunk or bottom of the tree.

"If the side branches aro too horizontal, upper buds are
left for their extension ; if too upright, lower buds are left.
Side direction may be given, if desirable, to fill wide spaces,
in the same way. Cut the other branches at such a distance
from the trunk that the ends of them will form a pyra-
mid, the base of which should not be over twelve to sixteen
inches in diameter, and in smallish trees much less; thus

197.

Treatment of

two-year-old

dwarf pear

tree.

198.

Treatment
for a three-
year-old
tree.

276 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

the lowest branches will be left the longest, the object of
which is to check the natural flow of sap to the upper
branches, and induce it to flow more forcibly to the lower
ones, increasing in vigor and force of the latter as much as
possible, which must be done at that time or never.

"The Fig. 198 represents a three-year-old tree, after it
has been pruned at two years old and made the third years'
growth, and showing where it should be cut back at that
time. All subsequent pruning will become easy to any one
who has attended to these directions thus far — observing
the same principles— thinning out or cutting back any sec-
ondary or other branches, as shall seem necessary to admit
light and air, or give vigor or symmetry of form to the
tree ; but as the greater force of sap will flow to the central
and upright branches, they will need to be cut-back most,
retaining as near as may be the pyramidal form. Pruning
may be done at any time from November to April."

These trees, shown in Figs. 197 and 198, start
out with a pyramidal treatment, but as they ma-
ture, they approach the form shown in Fig. 196 ;
and the Yeomans trees are now not over twelve
feet high, although nearly fifty years old.

Other illustrations may elucidate some of the
ways of treating dwarf pears. Fig. 199 is a
tree at the end of its first season's growth in
the orchard. The forks near the ends of the
branches show where it was cut at planting
time. Fig. 200 shows the way in which it was
again pruned.

A dwarf pear three years set is shown in Fig.
201. The top "was started wrong, — with only two
branches and these in the form of a crotch.

DWARF PEARS

277

When pruned (Fig. 202) two sprouts were left.
The tree will now have four scaffold branches ;
but it will never be a model tree.

A low -branching Duchess dwarf pear is shown
in Fig. 203. This variety is a narrow and tall

199. Dwarf pear at end of
first year in the orchard.

grower when young. It has a well-marked leader
and several scaffold limbs. It is pruned in
Fig. 204. This will make a good tree.

The pruning of dwarf apples is essentially
like that advised for pears. If the tree is on

278

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

Paradise stock, very close attention must be given
to pruning, else the top will become too large
for the root. If it is on the larger -growing

201. A bad-formed tree.

202. The tree pruned.

Doucin stock, a somewhat freer growth may be
allowed.

The following remarks on pruning dwarf apples
are by Lodeman : *

"Dwarf apple trees should be very thoroughly pruned
from the time they are set. The object of this pruning is
three-fold: the wood which is capable of bearing fruit will

*Dwarf Apples, Bull. 116, Cornell Exp. Station.

DWARF APPLES

279

be more freely produced, the fruit- spurs will be distributed
evenly over all the lower parts of the tree as well as the
top, and the tree will be kept in a dwarf habit. These
results may not be obtained if too little wood is removed.
Each year's growth, if vigorous, should be cut back at

203. A Duchess dwarf
pear, four years set.

204. The tree
pruned.

least one -half or two -thirds, and generally more may be
removed with perfect safety. Occasionally, dwarf trees
will be found in which the natural vigor of the cion seems
to have stimulated an undue growth of roots, so that the
tree, instead of remaining small, increases rapidly in size,
and soon it bears little resemblance to the plants fre-

280

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

queiitly illustrated in books to show how a dwarf apple
tree ought to appear. The annual growths may be from
one to two feet in length, and at this rate good -sized trees
are formed in a short time.

"The tree shown in Fig. 205 represents a good type.
The original from which the drawing was made was five

A good dwarf apple tree.

feet in height, the lowest leaves being but eighteen inches
from the ground. The top has been allowed to assume
its natural spreading form, but a firm control has continu-
ally been exercised over any too ambitious efforts of the
branches. The tree has practically the same form and
size which it will retain during its entire existence. The
main branches will increase in circumference, the outer

DWARF APPLES 281

limbs will gradually lengthen, and the fruit- spurs will
become more crooked, yet the tree will always be low
and spreading. The one criticism which might be made
is that the lowest fruiting branches are still too high. The
foliage of the ideal dwarf apple tree almost touches the
ground; it has all its main branches well studded with
smaller ones, or with fruit- spurs, so that when in full
leaf, it shall appear 'feathered' from bottom to top.* *

"Much wood is allowed to remain near the ground and
in the center of the tree, for it is always easier to remove
superfluous branches than it is to insert them when they
are wanted. The form of the pruned tree is that of a
rather broad vase, this being the shape which the tree
naturally assumes. During the coming season, it should
be well provided with foliage, so that none of the main
branches shall be exposed to the full glare of the summer
sun. The fruit produced will also receive proper shade.
The specimen as a whole may be considered as a good
type of dwarf apple tree which has not been forced to
assume a form which is unnatural to it."

RINGING AND GIRDLING

Girdling is a generic term used to designate the
making of a wound completely around a stem.
A girdle may extend only through the bark, or
deep into the wood. Ringing is a specific horti-
cultural term used to designate a girdle which
extends only through the bark. The wound may
be a simple incision with the point of a knife, or
it may be made by the complete removal of a
section of bark. In horticultural practice, gir-
dling into the wood is rarely desirable, and we
shall, therefore, use the word ringing.

282 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

We have already seen the philosophy of ring-
ing (pages 161, 166). It promotes fruitfulness of
the part above the rings, because the elaborated
food is held there, not being able to pass the
girdle in its downward course. The fattening of
the top, so to speak, is at the expense of the part
below the ring. If the bark is not allowed to
cover the ring, the root must eventually starve,
unless there is foliage below the ring to support
it. As a matter of practice, however, the ring is
made in spring and is allowed to heal, and the
direct effect is, therefore, confined mostly to the
year in which the ringing is performed.

Ringing is useful in two ways, — it may set un-
productive trees into bearing, and it may modify
the fruit which is borne above the ring. The
former effect usually does not come until the year
following the ringing — sometimes not till the sec-
ond year. The latter effect is immediate. The
philosophy of the one is that the extra food tends
to develop fruit -buds ; the philosophy of the other
is that the extra food hastens the maturity and
increases the size of the fruit already growing.

Ringing to induce fruit -bearing is to be re-
garded as a special practice. It is generally a last
resort, — not because ringing injures the tree (for
it usually does not), but because there are more
fundamental and general means of promoting
fruitfulness (read pages 163-166). If a tree here
and there persists in being barren, ring it as an

RINGING 283

experiment. If the whole plantation is fruitless,
and has yet received all the care which legiti-
mately makes for fruitfulness, then ring all the
trees ; then if they do not bear, graft them or cut
them down. Ringing is sometimes done on young
trees in test plantations to bring them early into
bearing, but young trees are often seriously in-
jured thereby.

Ringing is usually done about the time growth
begins to start. It is well to experiment on one
or two branches first. Run the point of a knife-
blade around the stem, sinking it to the wood.
This will usually be sufficient; but removing an
inch of bark at this season of the year usually
does no harm if the tree is vigorous (see page 116) .
I have known rings six inches wide, on apple
trees, to heal perfectly in a single season, with no
dressings applied; but such wounds are unneces-
sary and dangerous.

Ringing to increase the size and hasten the
maturity of fruits is such a well-known practice
that reputable societies have long refused to award
premiums to fruits which have been modified in
this way.* The quality usually suffers. It is
customary to make the ring just after the fruit has
set, so that individual specimens may be selected.
A strip of bark a quarter of an inch wide is often
taken out. The part above the ring should bear

*See, for example, page 203, 4th Ed. "Horticulturist's Rule-Book."

284 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

an abundance of foliage, else there will be insuf-
ficient food to support the fruit.

Gaucher remarks* that "the width of the bark
to be removed from the whole circumference of the
shoot or branch varies between three arid five milli-
meters [a millimeter is .039 inch, hence one -tenth
to two -tenths inch]. Wider than this, the cut
should not be made, as otherwise it is to be fgared
the wound would remain open all summer and
bring about the death of the part above the cut."
"If performed extensively upon a tree," writes
Lindley,t ringing "is very apt, if not to kill it,
at least to render it incurably unhealthy; for if
the rings are not suffiiciently wide to cut off all
communication between the upper and lower lips
of the wound they produce little effect, and if
they are, they are difficult to heal."

In 1893 the writer made a symposium t on ring-
ing grapes, most of which is here reprinted:

"Grapes can be made to ripen earlier and to grow larger
if the vine is girdled in early summer. Many fruit-plants
have been girdled or ringed for centuries, but the utility of
the practice is still in dispute. A mere narrow girdle or
incision around the trunk may cause an apple or pear tree
to come into bearing, and as the wound heals over in a few
weeks, probably no harm can result. But the section of
bark removed from the grape vine is so large that the wound
never heals, and the whole cane is cut away at the annual
winter pruning. The renewal wood of the vine is not

*Die Veredeluugen, 364.

t Theory of Horticulture, Amer. ed. 255.

tAmerican Gardening, xiv. 74-80.

RINGING OF GRAPES 285

ringed, however, and this maintains the growth of the
plant. But it is a question if this renewal wood is sufficient
to keep the plant strong and healthy. Grape-ringing is
practiced by many growers in the Hudson Kiver Valley, and
mostly with good success so far as the precocity and en-
largement of grapes is concerned. It is yet a question if it
is profitable throughout a series of years and with all varie-
ties of grapes.

"Girdling or ringing various fruit-trees was certainly
practiced by the Romans, and the Agricultural Society of
France awarded a premium to Buchatt about a century and
a half ago for a method of ringing the grape-vine. The
practice, both with grapes and other fruits, has had an in-
termittent history, and it appears never to have become an
accepted practice for any number of years. This fact is
presumption against the operation. But its application to
the American vine is comparatively recent. The first valu-
able experiments made with the ringing of the grape vine
in America were begun in 1877, at the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural College, and the practice has been employed there
more or less continuously since that time. A valuable re-
port was made upon the composition of ringed grapes in
the report of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture for
1879.

"The status of grape-ringing in this country may be
expressed as follows: Ringing usually hastens maturity
and increases size of fruit; it is supposed to lessen the
quality of the fruit ; its effect upon the vine is not clearly
determined.

" The quality of the fruit of girdled vines has been made
the subject of much chemical inquiry at the Massachusetts
Experiment Station, and as this point is an exceedingly
important one, and is under much discussion at present, we
have reproduced Dr. Goessmann's analyses very freely.
The following table is from Dr. Goessmann's report for
1889:

286 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

Effects of Ringing Grapes, 1889.

NAME AND CONDITION.

Date.

Specific
gravity.

m P

.si
it

Hartford Prolific, not ringed. .
Hartford Prolific, ringed
Wilder, not ringed
Wilder, ringed
Delaware, not ringed

1877.
Sept. 3,
Sept. 3,
Sept. 3,
Sept. 3,
Sept. 4,
Sept. 4,
Sept. 4,
Sept. 4,
Sept. 6,
Sept. 6,
Sept. 6,
Sept. 6,
Sept.26,
Sept.26.
Oct. 5,
Oct. 5,

1.045
1.065
1.055
1.075
1.065
1.075
1.060
1.075
1.0625
1.085
1.045
1.070
1.065
1.080
1.075
1.085

Per ct.
12.85
17.18
15.41
17.24
15.75
19.14
16.60
18.45
16.60
21.48
13.46
17.53
17.63
24.47
20.92

Per ct.
8.77
12.50
10.42
14.70
11.76
15.15
11.37
16.31
13.51
15.63
7.46
13.88
13.70
19.61
17.50
17.86

Per ct.
68.25
72.76
67.62
85.26
74.66
79.16
68.48
87.42
68.31
72.76
55.42
79.18
78.27
80.13
85.37

Delaware, ringed
Agawam, not ringed

Agawam, ringed
lona, not ringed
lona, ringed
Concord, not ringed

Concord, ringed
Concord, not ringed

Concord ringed

Concord not ringed

Concord, ringed

Date.

100 PARTS OF GRAPES
CONTAINED—

i 3

Concord, not ringed

1889.
Sept.23,
Sept.23,
Oct. 8,
Oct. 8,

84.69
.42 83.00
.53 84.51
.37 82.69

6.24

8.13
6.09
8.50

Concord ringed

"In 1888, Dr. Jabez Fisher, of Fitchburg, Mass., 'the
father of grape -growing in northern Massachusetts,' began
experiments in connection with the Massachusetts College

RINGING GRAPES 287

which have extended to the present time, and have given
invaluable results. The following analyses of grapes,
which grew from vines girdled by him July 5, were reported
by Dr. Goessmann in Bulletin 7 of the Massachusetts
Hatch Experiment Station in 1890 :

September 20. Ringed. Not ringed.

Moisture at 100° C 83.00 per ct. 84.69 per ct.

Ash 42 per ct. . . per ct.

Sugar 8.13 per ct. 6.24 per ct.

Soda solution required to neutralize acid 84.4 C.C. 75 C.C.

October 1.

Moisture at 100° C 82.69 per ct. 85.51 per ct.

Ash 37 per ct. .53 per ct.

Sugar 8.50 per ct. 6.09 per ct.

Soda solution required to neutralize acid 50 CO. 48 C.C.

"In every case the amount of sugar was greater in the
ringed grapes.

" The experiments at the Massachusetts College were, on
the whole, satisfactory, and seemed to show that ringing is
advisable, and that it does not injure the vine ; but Dr.
Fisher's experiments upon a larger scale, which are detailed
below, show opposite results."

Dr. Jabez Fisher on Ringing

"Knowing that a number of cultivators had girdled their
grape vines for two or three years with satisfactory results,
and noting the commendation which began to come from the
Massachusetts Agricultural College, I determined to ascertain
how much value there might be in the method. I could find
no account of any careful experiments directed to this end,
and having three acres of bearing Concord vines, well sit-
uated for comparative experimentation, I decided to try
girdling a few of them. The girdling was done in July,

288 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

1888, when the berries were about one -fourth of an inch in
diameter. The girdled fruit showed color August 24, and
the ungirdled September 2, a difference of nine days. A
temperature of 29° on the morning of October 1 killed all
the foliage and froze the ungirdled berries, leaving the
others untouched, but though the girdled ones were nearly
ripe, the season was such that the appreciable amount
of sugar they contained was insufficient to give them
value for any purpose, and the entire crop was left
unharvested.

"In 1889, I girdled, July 2 to 5, one each of two bearing
arms on sixty vines. This was done by taking out a ring
of bark from one-half to three-fourths of an inch wide
around the arm near the trunk. The result of this
operation was to increase by 30 or 40 per cent the
size of the berries at maturity, and they showed color
August 12, while those on the opposite half of the same
vines began to color August 18, six days later. Sep-
tember 20, grapes on girdled vines were fit for market,
while the others became fully ripe October 1, a difference
of ten days.

"In order to get a good understanding of these results
and their value, I made a comparison as the matter then
stood. I was an earnest inquirer, with little faith, but en-
tirely open to conviction. I had gained ten days in time,
which, in an unfavorable season, might mean the difference
between success and failure. In addition to this gain, the
berries would weigh from one -fourth to one -third more
from their increased size, and this, again, would add to
their attractiveness and thus help their sale. On the other
hand, the normal amount of rain, 3.35 inches during Sep-
tember, resulted in splitting open from 20 to 40 per cent
of the berries, the larger proportion on the heaviest and
best clusters. This entailed not only the loss of these split
berries but also the time required in cleaning the clusters
for market, leaving them deformed and unsightly. The

THE RINGING OF GRAPES 289

berries were also soft and did not bear carriage well, and
as a result nothing was gained in price from their earli-
ness. There was no opportunity to institute a comparison
of quality September 20, as at that time those not girdled
were sour and unpalatable. The girdled ones seemed to
the anxious waiter to be nearly perfect, but in five^or six
days the not -quite -ripe ungirdled ones were preferred, and
October 1, when the latter had arrived at perfection, the
former were left uneaten. These girdled grapes were com-
paratively flat, insipid and unsatisfying. They were quite
as sweet to the taste as the others but lacked their refresh-
ing sparkle, partly from seeming to be less acid and partly
from suggestive, incipient decay. This was the case whether
they had been housed September 20 or left on the vines
until October 1.

"These results were unsatisfactory. I repeated the experi-
ment, using for the purpose the same vines and adding to
their number. In this I was largely influenced by the con-
sideration that if we should have a dryer September, the
objectionable features mentioned would be reduced to a
minimum.

"In 1890 I girdled, in all, vines covering nearly an acre.
They were all Concords, trained on the renewal system,
each vine having two bearing arms six feet long. These
arms are fruited but once, and replaced every year by new
canes grown for the purpose, upon which no fruit is al-
lowed while growing. Half the vines, those in alternate
rows, had only one arm girdled. The others were girdled
on both arms, which comprised all of the bearing wood
except two, three or four central canes that sprung from
the trunk bolow the arms. The operation was performed
July 18 and 19. The girdled grapes showed color August
17, the ungirdled August 25. Those girdled were first sent
to market September 22, and the others October 3. Sep-
tember 22 specimens of each were sent to Dr. C. A. Goess-
mann, of the Agricultural College at Amherst, Massachu-

290 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

setts, for analysis, and I give here the percentage amounts
of grape-sugar and tartaric acid respectively :

Ringed. Not ringed.

Sugar 9.29 7.36

Acid (tartaric) 1.17 1.15

"At this time the girdled grapes were fairly well ripened,
very nearly as good as they became a week later, and bet
ter than those gathered October 8. They were sweet, with
about the right porportion of acid, while those not girdled
were quite sour and entirely uneatable. October 8, samples
were gathered of each and again analyzed, with the results
here given:

Ringed. Not ringed.

Sugar 9.12 6.65

Acid (tartaric) 74 .51

"At this date the girdled grapes had lost their refreshing
sparkle, while the others were quite satisfactory, being
sweet and having sufficient acid; yet the analysis tells us
that while the former had lost nearly two per cent of sugar,
together with more than 36 per cent of acid, the latter had
lost nearly ten per cent of the sugar that they contained
September 22 when uneatable, but had also lost more than
55 per cent of their acid. It would appear from these
analyses that it is not so much the absolute amount of
sugar present which renders fruit palatable by its sweet-
ness, as the corresponding absence of an excess of accom-
panying acid; and that the sense of taste is quite unre-
liable in judging of the amount of sugar present.

"The proportionate enlargement of the berries was about
the same as in 1889, and notwithstanding that more than
five inches of rain fell between September 6 and 18, yet,
because of the looseness of the berries on the clusters and
the fine weather which followed, the girdled crop ripened
with only a trifling loss by splitting of berries, so that it
was all marketed by the time that the other grapes were

RINGING GRAPES 291

ready to follow. The average price which the girdled
grapes sold for during this time was but very little higher
than that the main crop commanded. Concord here is not
early enough to compete with grapes raised farther south,
and it brings quite as good prices later.

"An important circumstance forced itself upon my atten-
tion about this time. Upon these vines, half of which
had been girdled, it was found that the fruit upon the un-
girdled arm colored and ripened very slowly. It was so
far behind that [of vines not treated, and so general, that
the conviction could not be avoided that the girdling of
one -half of the vine had correspondingly retarded the
ripening on the other half. So prevalent was this tardiness
that the crop of the average vine as a whole was less val-
uable than where girdling was not practiced. A little later
it was found that upon those vines that had both arms
girdled, where a few clusters remained upon the central
shoots not treated, these clusters did not ripen so as to be
of any value. They remained red and very sour to the
end. This was the point where light began to show
through. I had by the operation of girdling been simply
transferring the nutritive pabulum that would naturally
have gone equally to all parts of the vine to a portion only.
The vine possesses in its sap sufficient material, if natur-
ally elaborated, to ripen its entire crop, but if one part of
it is caused to receive an excess, there must be a corre-
sponding deficiency elsewhere. Another idea was suggested:
whether it were possible for girdled vines to mature and
ripen their roots so as to be in condition to furnish a crop
the following year. It might be that as the bearing vine
was all cut away at the fall pruning, there would be no
use for the corresponding roots [if there are such!], as they
would die under any circumstances. The new or renewal
cane was not girdled, and its particular roots might not be
affected by the girdling of the other parts of the vine.

"Having determined that the gain in value of the crop

292 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

by girdling in my case was not enhanced, as a whole, in
any material degree, and being in possession of all the
conditions for ascertaining the after-effects upon the vine
and its roots, I decided to continue the operation no fur-
ther, but to watch the results in the season of 1891. As
the spring opened there was no noticeable difference in the
size or appearance of the canes, whatever their previous
treatment. It was observed that the buds on the vines that
had been girdled broke quite unevenly, that the clusters of
fruit -buds were smaller and the early growth of the new
canes less vigorous than with others. This state of affairs
was intensified as growth progressed, becoming more and
more apparent as the season advanced. While all were
entirely healthy, the vines which had been girdled in 1890
showed a decided lack of fruit and smaller and weaker
canes for fruiting in 1892. A favorable autumn made up
a part of this difference, and at the close of the season all
the vines looked well and the grapes were thoroughly
ripened.

"In harvesting the crop I kept the fruit grown upon three
different plots separate. No. 1 had never been girdled,
No. 2 had had one-half of each vine girdled, and No. 3
both halves. From each plot 120 vines were selected, each
lot covering about 11,500 feet. All were contiguous and
fairly comparable with each other. After the leaves had
fallen, I measured with calipers the diameter of each new
cane of these 360 vines, 720 canes in all, at half their
length, three feet, from the trunk.

"In the first column of the following table, 100 is assumed
as the product of average ungirdled vines. In the second
and 1&ird columns, the percentages of the half-girdled and
full-girdled vines, respectively, are given. The difference
between the whole amount of fruit and that denominated
first-class consisted of small and fragmentary clusters,
which could be disposed of only at inferior prices. The
quality of all the fruit was satisfactory.

RINGING GRAPES 293

Not ringed. Half ringed. Full ringed.

Total fruit 100 83 62

First-class 100 77 59

Diameter of new canes 100 97 87

" I cannot avoid the conclusion that wherever a grape vine
will fairly ripen fruit by natural processes, girdling is an
operation that cannot be commended, certainly not for its
commercial results. Its disadvantages are greater than its
advantages. The fruit possesses no attractions for the
connoisseur, and one year or more must be given the vine
to recover from its effects. It is possible that in some sit-
uations or circumstances where the seasons are not long
enough to ripen the fruit naturally, a crop might be saved
by girdling if the grower were willing to devote the suc-
ceeding season to generous feeding, without production of
fruit, in order to fit the vine for a crop in alternate years.
I doubt somewhat if even this is feasible, as my vines
girdled in 1890 have not yet full recovered."

Hinging in the Hudson River Valley

" For many years, I know not how long, it has been known
that by obstructing the return flow of sap in the part of a
grape vine bearing fruit, the size of the fruit would be in-
creased, and it would color abnormally early. This could
be attained by removing a ring of bark, or binding the
branch tightly with a wire. It is only within the last decade
that this knowledge has been turned to practical account in
America. Some twelve or fifteen years ago, grape-growers
in the Hudson River Valley would occasionally exhibit%t the
fairs enormous specimens of grapes. That the vines produc-
ing them had been girdled was frequently charged, sometimes
denied ; and if admitted, it was with shamefacedness, and
the specimens were generally ruled out of the competition.
A little later a few vines were girdled, and their product

294 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

put on the market. The practice grew annually, until now
a large proportion of the vineyardists of the region girdle
more or less vines. A prejudice against the practice ex-
isted in the minds of many who had never experimented
in this line, and it was charged that the fruit of vines
thus treated was only fit to sell, that the method was de-
structive to the permanent value of the vines, and was
fraudulent and ruinous.

"That some varieties of grapes, when girdled, produce
much larger fruit more than a week earlier, without ma-
terially impairing its quality, is a fairly well-established fact.
About two or three years ago one of the state experiment
stations is said to have reported [see previous pages] that
girdling increased the amount of sugar in the fruit, improved
its quality, increased its size, and hastened its ripening.
This statement encouraged the practice.

" That girdling destroys the flavor of some varieties has
been well shown ; that others when girdled never seem to
ripen, or in other words remain sour, is also true. 'A
girdled Catawba rivals a cucumber-pickle for acidity, and a
Delaware so treated never gets sweet.' Empire State
loses all character when girdled, while Martha and Wyom-
ing Eed suffer no loss in quality. Concord and Champion
are girdled freely without bad effects. Worden and Lady
sometimes crack badly when girdled ; both are very thin-
skinned varieties. As a general rule, the more delicate -
flavored grapes, especially if they contain foreign blood,
deteriorate most by girdling.

" The operation is a severe tax on the vine, particularly in
a dry season. Therefore, over-bearing must not be al-
lowed. When a vine too heavily loaded is girdled, it will
stop growing at about the time for the fruit to begin to color,
and the fruit will not ripen. It is the opinion of a careful
observer, who has practiced girdling the last five seasons,
that 25 per cent less fruit should be left on a girdled arm
than on the same arm if left ungirdled. Some vineyardists

RINGING GRAPES 295

girdle the same vine only every other year; others girdle
two of the four arms grown in the Kniffin system of train-
ing. All agree that heavy fertilizing is necessary to keep
up the vigor of girdled vines. All weak -looking vines are
left ungirdled.

" The time for girdling is shortly after the fruit is formed,
and when the young grape is about the size of a pea. It
is done by removing a ring of bark nearly an inch broad
from the arm or branch of last year's wood. One or two
shoots of the present season's growth should be left back of

206. Grape ringing-knife.

the girdle for renewal, or for the next season's bearing wood.
A knife is made specially for this purpose ; its form is shown
in the illustration (Fig. 206) . It consists of two hooked
blades, attached to a wooden handle, parallel to each other
and about seven -eighths of an inch apart. The inner part
of each blade is filed to a cutting edge. A chisel -shaped
knife is fastened on the back of the handle. In operation
the blades are hooked over the vine and the handle passed
around it, at the same time holding the blades firmly on the
vine; this will cut two lines seven-eighths of an inch apart
through the bark. The knife is then lifted from the vine,
turned over, and with the chisel -shaped part the ring of
bark is severed and lifted from its place. The whole opera-
tion is performed in a few seconds.

" The grapes should be removed from the shoots left grow-
ing back of the girdle, as it is desirable that these shoots
should make a vigorous growth of wood for bearing fruit
the next season. The vine beyond the girdle makes a great
growth of wood and fruit, and the edge of the girdled spot
calluses and partly overgrows the naked wood. Shortly

296 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

after the fruit has been harvested the girdled part is sev-
ered from the vine for the benefit of next «year's bearing
wood.

" Whether girdling grape vines is a profitable operation or
not can be determined only by a succession of carefully
conducted experiments. Its real effect on the quality of

207. The incisions. The bark removed The
cane in the fall.

the fruit of those varieties which are best adapted to it is,
as yet, not fully determined. Whether two vines, with
precisely the same treatment, except that one is girdled
annually, will for a series of years show a difference of
profit in favor of the girdled one, is only a matter of con-
jecture. The effect of girdling on grape-juice for wine-
making is also yet to be tested. All these are subjects for
investigation at our experiment stations.

"The accompanying picture (Fig. 207) shows the effect of
girdling in augmenting the size of the cane above the girdle,
and also the general shape of the wound."— W. D. B., Middle
Hope, Orange County, N. Y.

From John Burroughs, Hudson Eiver Valley.

"My opinion of the practice of girdling grape vines is,
that on the whole, it is poor business. Grape -growers, I

RINGING GRAPES 297

fear, are killing the goose that lays the golden egg. If all
take to girdling, where is the advantage? It is like the
crowd all getting up on chairs at the show; what better off
are they? Girdling hastens the coloring up of most varieties
of grapes, but hastens the ripening very little, while it dis-
tinctly injures the quality of certain kinds. Girdled Dela-
wares are uneatable. People who buy them probably lose
their appetite for Delawares for some time. They are as
sour as vinegar. Bed grapes seem to be injured by girdling
more than black ones. Girdled Niagaras are large and
pleasing to look upon, but their quality is not equal to the
ripe ungirdled fruit. Moore Diamond is ruined by girdling.
Wordens are not increased in size by girdling, but they
color four or five days earlier. They are, however, much
more liable to crack, as are all other girdled kinds. Fruit
on a girdled Moore Early is larger and earlier, and the qual-
ity is not much injured, but it may crack badly. A vine
heavily loaded will not ripen its fruit any earlier by being
girdled. Girdle other kinds if you will, but when you come
to the Delaware, hands off!"

PRUNING TOOLS

It is often said that all pruning should be done
with a pocket knife, meaning thereby that the
pruning should receive such constant attention
that the removal of large branches is unnecessary.
It is even said that the only safe pruning tool
is the thumb and finger, which should be used
to pinch out the objectionable growths as soon
as they start. Theoretically, these statements may
be true, but practically they are of little value,
because it is impossible for any person who has

298 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

more than a few plants to give such close atten-
tion to each one, and it is often impossible to

208. Pruning-knife.

tell which branches should be removed until
they have assumed their permanent character-
istics.

209. Priming-shears.

The most essential pruning tools are three,
a heavy knife (Fig. 208), hand shears (Figs.
209, 210), and a narrow saw (as e, Fig. 211).

210. Pruning-shears.

Aside from these types, there are various patterns
of chisels and hooks.

Various characteristic pruning tools are shown

211. Various pruning tools.

300 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

in Fig. 211. Those marked a, d, e are common
and very useful kinds of saws. Those with
teeth on both edges have the advantage of keep-
ing longer in repair and of allowing relatively
fine and coarse work ; but in crotches the saw
is likely to injure the limb which it is desired
to save. A slight curve to the blade (as in a)
allows the operator to make a very forcible draw
cut with the concave side. The back- saw, c, is
very useful for small limbs and for grafting, for
the stiff back allows the use of a thin plate and
consequently of small teeth ; and the tool leaves
a very smooth wound. Its disadvantage is that
it is too broad to be worked in crotches and
other crowded places. Saw ~b is known as an
orange -tree pruner. The tool / is one of the
handiest and most efficient of all pruning saws,
notwithstanding its clumsy appearance. The
blade turns at both ends, allowing it to be
used at any angle with reference to the frame
and adapting it to the most constricted places.
Tool g is a combination of saw and chisel. It
is mounted on a pole, and the chisel is operated
with a mallet applied to the end of the handle.
Tool h is also mounted on a long handle, and is
a combination of a saw and a shear tool. Long-
handled tools are of minor value, particularly
in orchards, for the operator should be very
close to his work. They are useful in taking
out limbs here and there and for use on orna-

PRUNING TOOLS

301

mental trees which are difficult to climb. The
Waters7 tree-pruner, — which is very useful for
heading -in outlying limbs, — works upon the prin-
ciple of the knife in h, Fig. 211.
A tool of the same principle, but
looking upward instead of down-
ward, is shown in Fig. 212.

Other shear tools are shown
in Figs. 209, 210, 213, 214, 215,
216. An exchange describes the
tool shown in Fig. 216 as follows:
"Anyone can make pruning shears
like those here illustrated for his
own use. The movable shear,
to which the pitman rod is at-
tached, does most of the cutting.
Both shears are made of thin,
hardened steel. From the bolt-
hole in the movable shear, a rod
(the pitman) longer or shorter, to
correspond with the length of the
pole used, runs to the lever shown
at the bottom of the cut. In
pruning trees and vines, the
handle of the lever is raised,
which forces up the bar and
opens the jaws of the shears.* * 212. A gooa
* * The jaws of the shears t001 for heading-in

outstretching limbs

must be ground at an angle some- and removing small
what more acute than that com- branches.

302 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

monly employed for tailors7 shears. The highest
part of each bevel must come against the bevel
upon which it acts."

A pruning chisel is shown at </, Fig. 211.
Many persons prefer a chisel to all other tools,
because it allows the operator to stand on the
ground ; but, as said above, such implements
have only special uses. A two-inch or three -inch
carpenter's chisel may be mounted on a stiff pole;

213. Hedge-shears.

or a chisel may be made from a large file by
a local blacksmith, and, in this case, a hook may
be formed on the side with which to draw the
brush from the tree. Small branches may be
severed by means of a simple thrust of the tool,
and large ones are cut by striking the end of
the handle with a mallet. Tools of this type are
on the market.

Another tool with a chisel -like edge is shown
in Fig. 217. This is an European tool, and is
used in pruning forests. Des Cars describes it as
follows:* "The best tool for the purpose is

*"A Treatise on Pruning Forest and Ornamental Trees," Amer.
Ed., 22.

PRUNING TOOLS

303

one which has been used for many years in
Holland, and which has lately been improved
byCourval (Fig. 217). It weighs 2 Ibs. 12 oz.,
to 3 Ibs. 6 oz., or more, according to the strength
of the workman [and is sixteen inches long] .
The blade is reinforced in the middle to increase
its strength and concentrate the weight. In the
north of France this tool is
generally hung to an iron
hook attached to a leather
strap buckled round the
workman's waist, who is thus
left perfectly free in his
movements."

Another European device is
the dendroscope (Fig. 218).
This is used when it is de-
sired to reduce the top of a
large tree to a given form.
A figure of the desired form
is cut in a piece of card-
board, and a thread or wire
is stretched across the open-
ing from top to bottom. The
operator holds the card be-
fore his eye, bringing the
wire against the center of
the trunk, and walks towards the tree until
the bottom of the opening strikes the ground
line. He can then make a mental note of

214. Two-hand
pruning shears.

304 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

the places to cut the branches in order to pro-
duce the desired outline.

For removing the canes from bush -fruits (as
raspberries, gooseberries), roses and other shrubs,

215. Powerful pruning shears. (The Myti-
cuttah, an English implement.)

various hooks and spuds are useful. Three styles
of these are shown in Figs. 219, 220, 221.

There are also many devices for cutting the
runners from strawberry plants, one thrust of
the implement leaving the hill in proper size and
shape. One of these is represented in Fig. 222,

216, Home-made shears.

I
218. Dendroscope.

219 Bush hook.
T

220. Bramble hook. 221. Bush spud.

306

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

and is described as follows:* "E. W. Reid de-
scribed an implement for trimming strawberry
plants in hills, which is much used in eastern
Ohio. It consists of a piece of heavy sheet -iron
about twenty -eight to thirty inches long and six
inches wide, the ends riveted to form a cylinder
about nine inches in diameter and six inches long.

Attached to one end of
the cylinder, and on op-
posite sides, are two
pieces of strap -iron
which extend about six
inches beyond the end
of the cylinder and
join 011 the line of the
axis to a handle of
wrought -iron with a
wooden cross-piece at
the top, to be grasped
in using the implement.
The distance from the lower
edge of the cylinder to the
top of the handle should be
about three feet four inches,
so that the workman will not

222. Strawberry have to stoop in using it.

pruner. Instead of a cross-bar the

handle shown at the right may be used. With

*W. S. Devol, reporting meeting of O. Hort. Soc. in American Garden,
xii., 175.

PRUNING TOOLS 307

this it is easier to direct the blows, and the use of
the implement is less tiresome, because the posi-
tion of the hands can be changed. The projecting
handle should be about the same distance above
the cutting cylinder as the cross-
bars, and the perpendicular pro-
jection should reach twelve or fif-
teen inches higher. The edge of
the implement should be kept
very sharp, to prevent pulling
and disturbing the plants when
using it. By walking between
two rows and setting the imple-
ment down over two hills on
one side, and then two on the other, the runners
can be trimmed off very rapidly, and the plants
be kept in neat, round hills. The implement ap-
pears to be a valuable thing for facilitating
the work of the strawberry grower."

A recent writer describes the following mask
(Fig. 223) to protect the face while pruning:* "I
am pruning, and for the past few years have
found great comfort in a mask over the face to
keep off the sun and wind. It often makes the
difference between being able to stay at work or
not during some days at this time of year. I
wear spectacles, and to prevent the breath freez-
ing on them, use a stiffish wire hooked behind

*C. T., in The Rural New-Yorker, March 20, 1897.

308 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

each ear and bent around close to the face, just
clearing the eyes, and over the nose like a spec-
tacle frame ; on this is run a thick piece of cotton,
covering the nose and face to the beard, and
short enough not to catch the breath. A rather
loose tape from the corners under the chin keeps
the wind from getting under, and turning it up
over the eyes."

Balmer describes* the following device in which
to burn the prunings : "A matter in connection
with pruning, and one which should always have
the closest attention, is that of gathering up the
prunings. These are oftentimes the harbor of
aphis eggs, and the eggs of other injurious in-
sects, and if left lying on the ground too long
these eggs may hatch and do a great amount of
damage. Our practice is to rake up the prunings
into bunches and load them into a wagon, to be
hauled away and burned. In parts of California
where they have very large orchards, a kind of
portable furnace is used ; this is a large sheet-
iron receptacle mounted on four wheels, with an
iron frame. In the center of the iron trough is a
grate. On this a fire is lighted, and the prunings,
having been previously raked with a horse -rake
into rows, are loaded on to this fire. A horse is
hitched to this portable furnace, and the whole
orchard gone over, the fire being kept up all the

*Bull. 25, Wash. Exp. Sta.

PRUNING APPLE TREES 309

while. This is said to work well in vineyards,
but may be too cumbersome for our Washington
orchards. At all events, see to it that the prun-
ings are burned and the ashes returned to the
orchard."

REMARKS ON SPECIFIC PLANTS

Apple

The apple tree is a vigorous plant, and should
be pruned every year. In very cold climates, —
as in northern New England, Wisconsin, Minne-
sota,— it is generally considered to be advisable to
delay the pruning until the cold weather is past
(pages 143, 184), but in other regions pruning in
late winter is the rule. Yet the apple tree, like
other fruits, may be pruned in early spring or
summer. The average height at which the limbs
of apple trees are started is about four feet from
the ground ; but the height must be governed by
climate, variety, and the personal ideals of the
grower. From three to five limbs should form
the scaffold of the top. When the general form
of the top has been well established, — by three
or four years of thoughtful attention, — the sub-
sequent pruning consists mostly in removing all
superfluous limbs in the center of the top, — that
is, those which run crosswise the top, which rub
other limbs, or which tend to make certain parts
of the top too thick. Avoid pruning all the side

310 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

branches off the main limbs, else these limbs will
become too long and pole -like. There are no
particular precautions to be observed in the prun-
ing of an apple tree. For spurs and buds, see
Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
18, 41, 62, 63. For trees, see Figs. 123, 126, 127,
133, 134, 145, 146, 147, 154, 155, 156, 161, 162,
163, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175,
176, 177, 178, 189, 190, 205 (dwarf).

Apricot

The apricot is treated in essentially the same
way as the plum (which' see) ; but since some
of its fruit is borne on the last year's shoots,
heading -in may thin the fruit. For spurs and
buds, see Figs. 38, 39, 40, 42, 57, 58. For trees,
see Figs, 182, 183.

The following directions for the pruning of
apricots in California are by J. B. Neff,* and
they may be applied — with minor modifications —
to other stone fruits and to other regions:

"Trees of four to five feet in height are preferable for
planting, and when planted should be trimmed to a single
stem and cut off at eighteen inches from the ground.
These will throw out shoots vigorously and frequently two
or three shoots from one bud. These shoots should be
thinned out, leaving not more than four or five, no two
of which should come from one bud, nor be directly oppo-
site. The first shoot should start twelve inches from the

*Before Farmers' Institute, Anaheim, Cal., Apr. 9, 1897.

PRUNING THE APRICOT 311

ground, the others in such a manner as to divide the space
and make the branches balance, leaving the top shoot to
form the central part of the tree. It will be necessary to
go over the trees several times the first year to remove
shoots that may start where not wanted, but no general
heading-back should be done, as it tends to dwarf the
tree; though if some of the limbs are making an over-
growth they should be pinched -back to keep the head
balanced.

"The pruning for the second year should be done in
January, as the tree will not be dormant until then, if it
has been kept in a thrifty condition. The first year's
growth should be cut back to within five to ten inches of
the body of the tree, and all forks should be cut out, even
if it necessitates forming a new head, as it is much better
to lose some growth on a young tree than to take the risk
of splitting down when the tree begins to bear fruit.

"When the shoots start for the second year's growth,
take off all that come on the under side of the limbs and
thin to one, two or three, as may be needed to balance
the tree, bearing in mind that an apricot tree always
inclines toward the coast breezes in this locality. The
second year will require much more attention than the first
year, in order to keep off suckers and all lateral growth
that may start on the under side of the new limbs, the
object being to make the limbs grow as near upright as
possible. The remark on heading -back holds good for the
second year also.

"The trees will become dormant earlier the second year
than they did the first, but should not be trimmed earlier
than December and a month later is preferable, as the
ends of the limbs are not exposed to the drying winds so
long before the sap begins to flow and consequently will
heal over better. The second year's growth should now
be cut back to within fifteen to twenty inches of the old
wood, except the central stem, which may be left twenty-

312 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

four to thirty inches long, depending on the number of
laterals it may have thrown out.

"When the new shoots start they should again be
thinned down to two or three on each limb and all taken
off that tend to turn down or out at right angles. The
trees will need to be gone over about three times before
July, to remove suckers and lateral growth that may start
on the lower side of the limbs, as the tendency in the
third year is to make an immense growth of downward
laterals, and these must be taken off so as to develop
wood that is to be left for fruit. If the orchard is on
good land and has been properly irrigated and cultivated,
the trees should now be large enough to begin to yield
fruit.

"The object in trimming during the first two years and
the first half of the third year has been to grow a vig-
orous, upright tree with strong limbs, capable of carrying
a heavy load of large fruit, and to get the fruit as close
to the body of the tree as possible.

"There will be a few specimens of fruit the third year,
and as soon as these are gathered the trees should be
summer pruned for the first time, care being taken that
the land shall have been allowed to become moderately
dry, so that the trees may be partially dormant. If the
downward growth of the laterals has been kept cut off,
all that remains to be done is to cut off about one-
half of all this season's growth all over the tree, using
the same judgment as before with reference to prevail-
ing winds and symmetry of tree. If this is properly
done and water at once turned on the orchard, a new
growth will be made and the fruit buds for next year
fully developed.

"The only pruning necessary in the following winter
will be to take out any cross limbs and sprouts that may
have been overlooked in the summer.

"After the trees begin to produce regular crops they

PRUNING APRICOT AND CHERRY 313

will not grow so vigorously, and the numerous prunings
of the first three years will not be necessary, as almost
all can be done by summer pruning until the trees get
so old that they need the old wood taken out. This can
be more readily done without damage to the trees where
from twenty -four to thirty limbs are grown, than in the
old method of leaving only eight or ten large limbs.
When it becomes necessary to take out old wood — as the
best fruit grows on new wood — a few limbs can be taken
out each year until a full top of new wood is again made."

Cherry

Remarks on plum and apricot will apply to
cherry. For spurs and buds, see Figs. 31, 32, 33.
For trees, see Figs. 3, 4, 179, 180, 181, 188.

Of the pruning of the sweet cherry, Powell
writes as follows:*

"The cherry orchard will require little pruning after the
first two or three years, and before that time the tree can be
made to assume any desired form. I believe, however, that
in general the pruning should be such as to give the tree a
low, spreading head, with a trunk about four feet high, and
with the top built out on three to five main arms. We have
pursued this method on the Windsor and other varieties, and
the trees, instead of growing in the usual spire-shape,
assume an apple-tree form. After the first two or three
years no pruning is needed, except to remove dead branches,
and to keep superfluous branches from intercrossing. The
advantages gained from this form of tree are of great im-
portance. First, the body of the cherry tree is less likely to
be injured from the hot sun, which causes it, especially on
the side of the prevailing wind, to crack and split, exude

*G. H. Powell, Bull. 98, Cornell Exp. Sta.

314 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

sap, and finally to die. The low, spreading head shades the
trunk and large branches, and obviates this difficulty to a
great extent. In western New York this trouble is not so
serious as it is on the black lands farther west. A second
advantage, of equal or greater importance, lies in the fact
that, if allowed to grow upright, the limbs reach the height
of thirty to forty feet in twenty -five years, making it very
difficult to gather the fruit and to spray the trees. The
bearing branches are always found towards the extremities
of the limbs, and the time which men lose in going up and
down long ladders is of no small account to the fruit -

Orange

"The best form of tree is a low -headed, com-
pact growth. It is secured by trimming the
young tree, at transplanting, to a straight shoot
of four to six feet in height, and tying it to a
stake to give it support and straightness. All
shoots from above the bud are permitted to grow
to shade the trunk and to stiffen it, though a too
strong lateral may be pinched. The trunk must
be protected from the sun by wrapping with paper
or something of the kind, until the leaves do that
service. The lower branches will bear the first
fruit, and as the tree attains age, they will stop
growing and can be removed. Thus the head of
the tree is raised gradually, and space is given for
the drooping of the higher branches. In the top
of the tree, too, the rule for pruning should be to
remove the weaker branches which seem to have
outlived their usefulness, and thus give more

PRUNING ORANGE AND PEACH 315

room for the vigorous ones. High heading is
practiced by some growers. It is open to the
general objection to high heading (see discussions
on pages 193-203, and page 216). The natural
form of the orange tree is undoubtedly superior
so long as the tree is not persecuted by pests,
and is in a situation where natural conditions
favor it. When it is beset by evils its treatment
may have to be changed to aid in conquering
them."*

For discussion of the treatments to be given
frozen orange trees, see pages 146-149.

Peach

The peach usually bears on the shoots of the
previous year; therefore, heading -in thins the
fruit. Heading -in also induces a growth of new
shoots, and thereby increases the fruit -bearing
wood. Heading -in is also advantageous in re-
moving winter -injured twigs. Notwithstanding
these advantages, heading -in of the peach is a
question of local application and of training the
top to some given form. It is more generally
practiced on heavy lands — on which the trees grow
exuberantly — than on sandy lands. The writer
believes that heading -in is less essential to peach -
growing in North America than the literature of

*Wicksou, "California Fruits," 449.

316 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

the subject would lead us to believe. In the
commercial peach regions, trees are rarely headed-
in, at least not after they begin to bear. If
heading -in is not practiced, the chief attention
to be given the tree — after the general frame-
work of the top is formed — is to trim out the
weak and dead interior wood by means of hand-
shears. This fine wood dies or becomes weak
after bearing, and should be removed. For buds
and twigs, see Figs. 34, 35, 36, 37. For trees, see
Figs. 124, 128, 129, 143, 150, 151, 152, 163, 164,
184, 185, 186, 187.

The general form of the top for a peach tree
has already been discussed (Fig. 124, pages 261,
262). The following remarks by J. H. Hale
will still further elucidate the subject:

"Young peach trees allowed to grow at will all the first
season after setting should have their three or four leading
branches make a growth of from two and a half to four
feet each. Fall and early winter pruning has not been
satisfactory with us, and therefore all pruning is delayed
until late winter or early spring. In the earlier days it
was my custom, in trimming trees one year planted, to
cut branches back to within twelve or fifteen inches of the
main stem ; but as this tends to form rather a too close
head for the foundation year, I now prefer to leave the
first season's growth two and a half to three feet long.
and to reserve the severe shortening- in for the second,
third and fourth years, particularly the second and third
years. Besides the main branches to be cut away the first
year, it will be necessary to cut off some lateral branches
entirely and to shorten others somewhat. With liberal

PRUNING THE PEACH 317

culture and manuring, each of the three or four main
branches will, in the second year, throw out from their
tips two or three leaders, each of which should make a
growth of three to four feet. Early in the spring follow-
ing pruning should begin, with the object of building a
broad, low, open-headed tree. This is best accomplished
by first thinning out all crowding inside branches and
leaders, and shortening- in all others from one -half to
three -fourths of the new year's growth, the closest cutting
being in the central top. The third year's work should be
on the same general plan ; and it will often be found, unless
the second year's work was exceedingly well done, that
some of the third year's work ought to have been done then.
The object of the first three years' pruning is to establish a
well -formed tree best suited to forcing the greatest amount
of fruit to the highest perfection at the least possible cost.
"After the right sort of tree has been established and
trees have reached a bearing age, pruning for a year or two
may be continued, partially on the line of a correct tree
form, but more particularly as relating to fruit production.
And so right here we abandon late winter and early spring
pruning, and do most of the work after the fruit-buds begin
to swell, so that we can judge on inspection which are alive
and which are dead. In years when very few buds have
survived the frosts of winter, pruning should be done with
the object of retaining a great majority of the living buds,
regardless of tree form, which can be somewhat righted the
next year. Of course, in years when a good number of
buds are found alive, pruning can be continued for form,
but as the tree grows older, less and less pruning will be
required. The methods here described have in their early
years given handsome, even-headed, well-rounded trees,
which have been exceedingly profitable, although in later
years they have become less shapely. As it is results-
fruit results and dollar results — that count in commercial
peach culture, we judge the method to be a decided success,

318 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

at least for sections where winter-killing of fruit-buds is the
greatest drawback to success, and we shall follow it closely
till some better plan presents itself. There should be no off-
year with peaches, except when fruit or blossom buds are
entirely killed by frosts. Bight culture, proper feeding and
pruning should each year stimulate enough new growth to
furnish far more buds than are required for abundant
crops."

Another view of peach -tree pruning may be
presented : *

" The methods of pruning peach trees are the occasion of
much discussion among pomologists. The differences of
opinion turn chiefly about three practices, — short trunks
with rapidly ascending branches, high trunks with more
horizontal branches, and shortening-in or heading-back the
annual growth. Each of these three methods of handling
or training peach trees has ardent advocates and pronounced
opponents. It is probable that each system has distinct
merits for particular cases. I believe that the nature and
fertility of the soil are the dominating factors in these op-
posing methods. A system of pruning which fits the slow
growth and hard wood of sandy soils may not be adapted
to the rapid growth and heavier tops of trees on strong soils.
Fig. 124 shows what I believe to be, in general, the best
method of pruning peach trees upon sandy or what may be
called peach soils. It is the natural method. The tree is
allowed to spread its top at will with no heading- in. The
foliage is comparatively light, and does not place great
weight upon the branches, and the trees, upon such lands,
do not grow quickly to such great size as upon heavy lands.
This method of allowing a tree to make its natural top is
the common one in the Chesapeake peninsula and in the

*L. H. Bailey, Bull. 74, Cornell Exp. Sta.

PRUNING PEACH AND PEAR 319

Michigan peach belt. It will be observed, also, that the
picture to which I have referred shows a tree with short
trunk and forking branches. It is a prevalent opinion in
many places that such trees are more likely to split down
with loads of fruit than those which have more horizontal
branches, but I think this to be an error. Of course, some
care should be exercised to see that the branches do not
start off from the trunk at exactly the same height, thus
making a true fork or Y. With this precaution, the crotchy
trees are no more likely to split than the others, while they
allow of a much better form of top, unless the tree is to be
headed-in. * * *

11 Yet there is much to be said, fairly, for the high-topped
trees. They are more easy to till, and it is quite as easy to
pick their fruit ; and there is less tendency to make long
and sprawling branches as a result of careless pruning. On
rich lands, it is perhaps the better method. And here is
the chief reason for heading-back in this climate, — the
necessity of checking the growth and keeping the tree within
bounds when it is growing in a strong soil. Whether one
shall head -in his trees or not, therefore, must depend en-
tirely on circumstances."

Pear

Pear trees are generally started lower than
apple trees. This is because the top tends to
grow more upright, and therefore to be out of
the way, and because the trunk is very liable to
be injured by sun -scald. Three to four feet is
the usual height of pear trunks in the East.
The top should be thinned out every spring
(preferably before the leaves start) ; but heavy
pruning should always be avoided, because it

320 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

causes a quick growth, and thereby exposes the
tree to danger from fire -blight. Removing the
fruit -spurs, — which are very prominent in the
pear, persisting for several or many years, — is a
direct and economical means of thinning the
fruit. It is well to keep all spurs and sprouts
off the trunk and the lower parts of the main
limbs, for if blight attacks these shoots the dis-
ease is apt to run down into the trunk and cause
irreparable damage. For spurs and buds, see
Figs. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 55, 56,
59, 60, 61, 117, 118. For pictures of trees, see
Figs. 116, 130, 131, 141, 142, 148, 149, 165, 191,
192; for dwarfs, 111, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199,
200, 201, 202, 203, 204. For treatment of body-
blight, consult Fig. 101.

Plum

In the East, most plum -growers prefer to start
the top about three or three and a -half feet from
the ground. If the top is to be sheared -in, it
may be started somewhat higher. Figs. 120 and
121 should be contrasted with Fig. 122, as show-
ing typical examples of headed -in and free -grow-
ing trees. The fruit is borne mostly on spurs,
and simple heading -in is not' a means of thin-
ning. The Japanese and native varieties, how-
ever, often bear on the last year's shoots (Fig.
224). Trees bear as well if not headed -in as

PRUNING THE PLUM

321

they do when they are headed -in. The practice
of heading -in is therefore not fundamental, but
is to be determined by the grower's ideals, the

1234
Fig. 224. Buds on the new growth of plums. 1, domestica (Coe
Golden Drop), leaf -buds only. The others have lateral fruit-
buds : 2, Japanese (Burbank) ; 3, Japanese (Kerr) ; 4, Native
(Wild Goose).

rapidity of growth, distance apart of the trees,
and the like. For buds and spurs, see Figs.
28, 29, 30, and compare Fig. 224. For trees, see
Figs. 120, 121, 122, 132, 166, 193. See Apricot
(page 310),

322

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

Quince

Quince trees should be headed very low. Fig.
225 shows what may be considered to be model
commercial trees. Some people grow them to
bush form, but a distinct short trunk is generally

225. New York quince trees.

to be preferred. The interior growth is thinned
out each winter or spring, and if the growth is
very heavy — say eighteen to thirty inches on
bearing trees — it may be headed -back. Heading-
in thins the fruit, since the flowers are co- ter-
minal ; but cutting off all the tips generally re-
moves too much of the fruit. For twigs and
buds, see Figs. 47, 48.

PRUNING BRAMBLES 323

Blackberries and Raspberries

Blackberries, raspberries and dewberries bear
on canes which grew the preceding year, and,
having borne once, these canes become worthless
(read page 64). Pruning of these fruits consists
(1) in removing superfluous shoots from the base
of the plant, so that too many canes shall not
form (five or six to a plant usually being suffi-
cient) ; (2) in heading -back the shoots when
they reach the desired height, causing them to
throw out laterals and to become stocky ; (3)
heading -back these laterals (usually done the
next spring, before growth starts) ; (4) cutting
out the canes after they have borne (usually done
the following winter or spring, but should be
done, in general, soon after the fruit is off) .

Of blackberries, the growing caues should be headed-in,
—two to four inches of the tips cut off,— when they are
from two and a-half to three feet high. It will be neces-
sary to go over the plantation three or four times for this
purpose, as the different canes reach the desired height
at different times. Laterals will now push out vigorously,
but these are allowed to grow their full length. Early
the following spring, these laterals are shortened. There
is no rule respecting the proper length to leave these
laterals. Sometimes they are injured by the winter, and
must be cut-in short. And there is great difference in
varieties in the way in which they bear their fruit; some
kinds, like Wilson Early, bear the fruit close to the cane,
while others, like Snyder and Early Harvest, should be
cut longer. Some varieties are variable in their habit of

324

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

bearing fruit, and on such kinds some growers prefer to
delay the pruning of laterals until the blossoms appear.
From twelve to twenty inches is the length at which the
laterals are generally left. It must be remembered that
these laterals are to bear most of the fruit; hence it is
important that they make a good growth, become well
matured, and that the grower familiarize himself with
the habits of different varieties. It is generally important

226. Trellis for berries.

227. Rack for blackberries.

that the heading -in of the main cane be done early, so
that the laterals may make an early and hard growth,
and that they may start rather low down on the cane,
and thereby prevent the cane from tipping over with its
load of fruit. Blackberry bushes which are managed as
here outlined will stand alone, without stakes or trel-
lises. The bushes are sometimes kept from lopping by
stretching a single wire along either side of the row,
securing it to stakes which stand two or three feet high
(Fig. 226). Individual bushes may be supported by a rack,
as suggested in Fig. 227. In some places, particularly
along the Hudson, blackberries are trained on wires, after

PRUNING BLACKBERRIES

325

the manner of grapes. A blackberry trellis is shown in
Fig. 228. The two-wire trellis is generally preferred. The
young canes are headed- in just above the upper wire,
and they are gathered in bunches in the hand and tied
to the upper wire, where they will least interfere with the
ripening fruit. These canes may remain on the wires

228. Blackberries on a trellis.

all winter, or they may be laid down for protection. Early
the following spring, they are tied securely to both wires.
This makes, therefore, one summer tying for the young
canes, and one spring tying for the bearing canes. Black-
berries may also be tied to single stakes, although the
practice is scarcely advisable, because the fruit is apt to
become too much massed in the foliage.

An exchange writes as follows on supports for berry
bushes: "Wire is very commonly used as a support for
raspberry and blackberry bushes, this being stretched

326 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

tightly along stout stakes, the end stakes being of neces-
sity very stout and very firmly braced. But this does
not suffice to keep the wire stiffly in place. Where wires
are stretched along each side of a row already, they
can be made much more efficient by tying them together
with cross wires every ten feet or so. This pulls them
together and keeps the bushes
upright and in place. Where
there is no support at pres-
ent, and support is to be given
the bushes, the plan shown
in the diagram (Pig. 229)

can be followed to advantage.
Fig. 229. A handy wire _ . , ,

support. Llght wooden stnPs of meh-

square stuff are held up by

stakes of the same material and rigidly attached to each
other by cross wires. These cross wires are the most
important part of the whole, for they are constantly
pulling the bushes up into close quarters, —the one thing
for which supports are desired."

Black raspberries, or black-caps, are usually headed-in
when from one and one -half to two feet high. It is im-
portant that this heading-back be done as soon as the canes
reach the desired height, for the laterals then start low, and
the bush becomes stout and self-supporting. The following
spring the laterals are cut back to twelve to eighteen inches,
as blackberries are. Black raspberries are sometimes sup-
ported by wires (Fig. 226), but best results are usually ob-
tained when the plants are made to stand alone.

Red raspberries are seldom headed-in during the growing
season, but otherwise they are treated like black-caps. Fig.
230 shows a cane (of Cuthbert) well pruned, but the canes
in Fig. 231 are pruned too high and are top-heavy. Well-
pruned black -caps and blackberries have essentially the
form of Fig. 230.

The canes of dewberries are tied to stakes, disposed on

CURRANTS AND GOOSEBERRIES

327

trellises (as on Fig. 229), or tied to wire screen (Fig. 232).
The best method, probably, is to tie to stakes, allowing
three to six canes to each stake (Fig. 233).

Currants and Gooseberries

The canes of currants and gooseberries bear
several times, but the first two or three crops are

230. Well pruned.

231. Poorly pruned.

the best. It is therefore desirable, after the
plants have come into bearing, to cut out one or
more of the oldest canes each year, and to en-
courage as many new ones. The bush is, there-
fore, constantly renewed. If the old canes are
allowed to remain, the fruit becomes small, the

328

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

bushes get too tall, and the currant borer is en-
couraged. In Fig. 234, the old branching cane

a should be removed. At
its left, two vigorous canes
— one two seasons old and
the other one season old —
are ready to take its place.
When bushes make very
strong and tall growths,
the canes may be headed-
back. For spurs and
buds, see Figs. 43, 44

The following advice is
by Beach:*

"la large plantations it has
been found most satisfactory
to permit currants to grow in
bush form rather than in the
tree form, as the old canes
may then be removed when they
become unproductive, as they
do after a few years, and their
places may be taken by new
canes that have been permitted
to grow for this purpose. Then
too, if the trunk of a currant
in tree form is broken off or
injured in any way, a new
plant must be set in its place,

but when several canes are permitted to grow, as is the
case when the plants are grown in bush form, the acci-

232. Dewberries on
wire screen.

*Bull. 95, N. Y. State Exp. Sta.

PRUNING CURRANTS

329

dental breaking of a trunk does not cause the death of the
whole plant, but its place is readily filled by permitting
other canes to grow from the root. The tree form is well
adapted to well -cultivated gardens, as the plants may be

233. Dewberries on stakes. A model treatment.

pruned into more symmetrical, attractive shape as trees
than as bushes. To grow currants in tree form it is simply
necessary to remove all buds from the part of the cutting or
layer that is put in the ground. This prevents the growth
of shoots from below the surface of the soil, and conse-

330

SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

quently no suckers are formed. The tree currants may be
kept in symmetrical shape by annually cutting -back the
shoots of new wood, leaving but two or three buds to the
shoot. This may be done at any convenient time while the
leaves are off.

"No definite rule can be given for pruning currants grown
in bush form, for the kind and amount of pruning necessary
is in each case determined by the condition and individual

234. Illustrating the pruning of a currant bush.

habits of growth of the bush to be pruned. In general, it
may be said that during the first two or three years the
bushes require but little pruning except to head-back the
new shoots so that fruit- spurs will develop all along the
cane. Otherwise the fruit-bearing branches and fruit-spurs
will be found mostly near the top of a long cane. When
this is permitted, especially with some varieties, such as Fay,
for example, the weight of the fruit is quite apt to bend the
canes nearly or quite to the ground. Besides this heading-
in to keep the bushes in shape, the pruning consists of re-

PRUNING GOOSEBERRIES . 331

moving the broken branches, or those that droop too closely
to the ground, and removing the old wood after it has
passed the age of greatest productiveness."

For gooseberries, Beach writes as follows:*

"English writers usually recommend that gooseberries
be trained in tree form; that is, with a single main stem
for each plant, and that method is largely followed in
the old country. On account of their neat, symmetrical
appearance, such plants are well adapted to well -culti-
vated gardens. * * * A bush grown in this form does
not produce suckers, and if it is broken off accidentally
it cannot be renewed by letting new sprouts grow, but
must be removed and a new plant set in its place. After
they have borne five or six good crops it is generally
best to replace them with new bushes, for they gradually
become less productive than plants which are grown in
the bush form, because the latter may be renewed from
suckers whenever it is thought desirable to do so. To
grow bushes in tree form, it is simply necessary to remove
all buds or eyes from the portion of the cutting or layer
which is covered with earth in planting. No underground
shoots, or suckers, will then be formed, and the plant
will have but one main stem or trunk. By annually cut-
ting back new shoots to about three eyes, and removing
all weak or crowded branches, the tree form may easily
be kept in symmetrical shape.

"For general purposes it is best to set plants that will
send up suckers. The older canes, which have passed
their period of highest productiveness, may then be removed
annually, and their places taken by young, vigorous ones
which have been allowed to grow for this purpose. By
this method of renewal, the skillful grower may keep

*Bull. 114, N. Y. State Exp. Sta.

332 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

his plantation in a high state of productiveness for an
indefinite period. Including the young canes which are
to be used for renewal, as above suggested, there will
usually be five or six canes to a bush, or even a greater
number than this with varieties of the American class,
which have more slender canes.

"Gooseberries generally require little pruning during
the first two or three years after they are planted except
to clip a few inches off from the strong new shoots and
a less amount from the less vigorous ones. This may
be done at any time after the leaves fall. The object is
to favor the development of the fruit -spurs all along
the cane. If it is not done the strong buds at or near
the end of the cane will start into such vigorous growth
in spring that the lower buds will not start or will
make but little growth, so that eventually most of the
fruiting branches and spurs will be developed near the
upper end of a long cane which, when loaded with fruit,
is apt to bend nearly or quite to the ground.

"Besides heading-in the bushes in the way just described,
the pruning consists in removing weak or broken branches
and those which have made an excessively vigorous
growth. Old canes that have passed the age of greatest
productiveness, and branches that are close to the ground,
should also be taken away. No definite rule can be given
for pruning gooseberries, because the kind and amount
required varies with the individual habits and condi-
tion of growth of the bush. A little attention each
year is necessary to keep the bushes in best shape for
cultivating, spraying, fruit picking, and for the free circu-
lation of air through and especially underneath the
branches. It is a mistake to think that the center of
the bush must be kept open to let the sunlight in, as is
sometimes advocated. In this climate the fruit may be
ruined by such unnatural exposure to direct sunlight, and
it is better to have it shaded by the foliage.

SHADE TREES AND HEDGES 333

" Summer pruning is sometimes practiced with good
results. It consists in pinching off the ends of the vig-
orous shoots at the period of active growth in early sum-
mer. The object is to favor the development of fruit-
spurs."

Further remarks on the pruning of small -fruit
plants may be found in Card's "Bush -Fruits."

Shade Trees

When shade trees are once well established,
they usually need no attention in pruning except
to remove broken or dying parts, to cut off limbs
which hang too low, and to correct any tendency
towards unshapely growth. When planted, the
shade tree, if well branched, should be pruned
in essentially the same way as apples and pears.
Figs. 144, 145, 146 may be taken as models.
Young trees which are well supplied with buds
on the main axis may be cut to a whip, but the
common practice of chopping large trees into the
form of bean-poles is to be discouraged.

Hedges

The beauty and value of hedges lie in the
thickness of the hedge, and in its uniformity
from end to end. The plants should be set very
close together, and the hedge should be system-
atically and thoroughly pruned every year from
the first. It is best, in fact, to prune the hedge

334 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

two or three times during the season, in order to
prevent too great and straggly growth of any
one plant or any one branch of a plant. The
practice of cutting down the hedge severely in
winter, and then not touching it again until the
following winter, results in a heavy growth which
makes the hedge look ragged and unkempt dur-
ing the summer,, and which also makes it diffi-
cult to bring the hedge under subjection. The
hedge should be pruned in the winter time, and
also should be sheared two or three times during
the summer. The season of the year is imma-
terial, so long as strong growths are kept down
and the hedge is kept in uniform shape and con-
dition. The operator must first decide upon the
shape of hedge which he desires, whether conical-
topped, round -topped or flat -topped, and then
work to that model. The form should be blocked
out very early in the life of the hedge, — in fact,
just as soon as the plants begin to grow thick
enough to form a wall. This same form can be
kept year by year ; but the hedge will necessarily
rise a little in height every year, at least until the
plants have grown several years, and the vigor
has begun to be checked by the continuous prun-
ing and the crowding of the roots.

In order to make hedges impenetrable to pigs
and other animals, the plants are often plashed
when young. This consists in bending the main
shoots over to an oblique or diagonal position,

FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 335

and securing them there by wiring them down,
one plant bending over the following one. Plants
which are to be plashed are generally set at an
angle when transplanted to their permanent posi-
tions. Deciduous -leaved and thorny plants, as
osage orange, are generally used for the making
of pig -tight hedges.

Ornamental Plants

Three objects are involved in the pruning of
ornamental trees and shrubs, — to produce some
desired form, to cause the plants to develop strong
and uniform foliage, to produce flower -buds. The
desired form is secured by shearing, the luxurious
and continuous foliage by cutting back rampant
growths and thereby encouraging a uniform de-
velopment of the different parts of the plant, and
the flower -buds by giving attention to the flower-
bearing habit of the particular plant in question.

The pruner should know whether the flowers
are borne on the ends of terminal or lateral
shoots of the season, or on the ends or sides
of last year's shoots.

Most early -flower ing shrubs bear terminal flow-
ers. Every effort should be made, therefore, to
secure many shoots. The flower -buds in the
early -flowering shrubs are formed the year be-
fore. Heading -in in winter, then, destroys the
bloom. Heading -in just as soon as the flowers
fall encourages the growth of new shoots, which

336 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

will bloom the following year. Of such plants
are lilac, mock orange, many spireas, and the like.
These shoots will form, of course, wholly without
the aid of pruning, but when the bush begins
to get crowded or weak, vigorous heading -back
and thinning -out may be advisable. The impor-
tant point is, that if the person desires to prune
to keep his plant within a given form or stature,
he should know when the cutting will not sacrifice
the bloom.

Summer -blooming trees and shrubs bear flowers
on shoots of the same season. That is, the flower-
buds are not formed the fall before. In these
plants, we want a profusion of strong spring or
early summer growths, and fall, winter or very
early spring pruning is, therefore, desirable. Of
this class are most of the roses. Rose bushes are
pruned mostly in fall or winter. The hybrid per-
petuals are often cut to the ground and strong
flowering shoots arise in the spring. The hardier
and more perennial kinds — as the moss and cab-
bage and rugosa types — are cut back when dor-
mant, much as one would head -in and thin out a
small fruit-tree.

Walker gives the following hints on pruning
outdoor roses:*

" Pruning is an important matter in rose-growing. Climb-
ing and pillar roses need only the weak branches and the

*Ernest Walker, in "Garden-Making," 297.

FLOWERING SHRUBS 337

tips shortened -in ; other hardy kinds will usually need cut-
ting-back about one -fourth or one -third, according to the
vigor of the branches, either in the spring or fall. A slight
cutting-back, also, after their June-flowering in the case of
remontants, will encourage more flowers. Severe pruning,
however, will only induce the growth of vigorous, leafy
shoots without flowers. The everblooming roses will need
to have all dead wood removed at the time of uncovering
them in spring. Some pruning during the summer is also
useful in encouraging growth and flowers. The stronger
branches which have flowered maybe cut back one -half or
more. The rule in trimming roses is, cut back weak-grow-
ing kinds severely ; strong growers moderately."

The following extracts give another view of the
essential principles in the pruning of flowering
shrubs : *

" There are two or three elementary rules which are
to be observed when the production of flowers is primarily
desired. Shrubs which blossom early in the spring form
their flower -buds the year before, and ingeniously protect
them during the winter with a warm covering, so that they
are ready to open with the early days of spring sunshine.
Any one who will cut off the twig of a peach tree in the
winter or of an early -flowering spirea and put it in water
will understand this, for the flowers will expand in a few
days after it has been brought into a warm room. Ob-
viously, if the branches of such shrubs are cut-back hard in
autumn, all the flower -buds are cut away and there is no
bloom in the spring. If, however, the branches are cut -back
immediately after the flowering season is over, this will
encourage the growth of new shoots from buds near the
base of the branch, and these will grow rapidly to take the

*Editorial in "Garden and Forest," December 2, 189(5.
V

338 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

place of the part that has been lost, and cover the'mselves
with flower -buds for another year.

"Another class of shrubs, like the hydrangeas, althaeas and
certain tamarisks, which flower in late summer or autumn
from buds which have developed on the wood grown dur-
ing the current summer, should be pruned in late autumn
after flowering, or, at least, before the wood starts in the
spring, so as to encourage abundant summer growth and
flower-buds for the next autumn.

"But these are the simplest elementary rules, and relate
solely to the production of flowers. Shrubs are useful
for many other purposes than merely to display their
blossoms. They are beautiful all the year round. Even
in the winter the variously colored barks of many of them
add a singular charm to the landscape. We, therefore,
prune them not only to promote the production of flowers,
but of wood and foliage and fruit as well, to insure grace
or symmetry of outline, and to make them vigorous and
healthy.

"The simple cutting-in of flowering wood in spring or
fall is thus a small part of the art of pruning, and where
there is a large variety of shrubs there is no time of year
when something in this direction cannot be done, and it is
especially useful when it is continued throughout the entire
growing season.

"If surplus wood is to be removed, a clean cut in midsum-
mer will heal over much more readily than it will in cold
weather, and there is no better time for removing superfluous
branches or for shortening-in over-vigorous shoots which
interfere with the symmetry of a specimen. Some trees
and shrubs, whose branches bleed when cut in spring, will
heal over quickly if pruned while in full leaf.

"If the strong branches are pinched back in summer the
wood will ripen into such a sound condition for withstand-
ing cold- that trees naturally tender have been known to
endure our winters fairly well when their branches have been

PRUNING SHRUBS 339

properly stopped. This summer pinching is especially use-
ful in wet seasons, when otherwise the wood keeps growing
late in autumn and is caught by freezing weather in a soft
and sappy condition. It also discourages upward growth
where this is undesirable, and tends to develop fruit-buds,
so that shrubs and trees will bear fruit at an earlier age when
they are properly pinched-back. For the same reason
shrubs will ripen their fruit more perfectly when the
stronger shoots above it have been stopped. * * *

"A young plant carefully pruned when it is set out in
good ground, with room enough to grow in, will sometimes
need, as it grows, to have interior branches cut away for
the admission of light and air, and the over -strong shoots
pinched-back in midsummer and dead wood carefully re-
moved. Little more will be required, as a rule, except to
shorten-in judiciously the flowering wood after bloom, and
under this treatment shrubs will develop into their best
form, and flower abundantly year after year."

The important point to remember, then, in the
pruning of flowering shrubs is that there are two
great categories of shrubs as respects the time
and mode of flower -bearing, — those flowering in
early spring more or less directly from winter
buds, and those flowering in summer or autumn
from buds formed that season. The methods of
pruning to produce a given form of bush are the
same in either case ; but if it is desired to head-
in and yet not to sacrifice the bloom, the early-
flowering shrubs should be cut -back just after
blooming rather than in winter, and the summer-
flowering kinds in winter (or when the plants
are dormant). Some of the common shrubs

340 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE

may be ranged in these two categories, as ex-
amples :

SPRING-FLOWERING

(Head-back immediately after blooming)

Kalmia. Weigela.

Rhododendron . Forsythia .

Azalea. Flowering Currants.

Snowball. Kerria.

Lilac. Barberry.

Mock -orange. » Viburnums.

Most woody spireas. Flowering Crabs.

Exochorda. Magnolias.

SUMMER-FLOWERING

(Head-back when dormant)

Many roses. Althaea and hibiscus.

Spiraea sorbifolia. Tamarisk.

Clematis. Elder.
Hydrangea.

CHAPTER VI

SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

There are many modes of training which are
so special and of such local and personal appli-
cation, that they should be considered in a class
by themselves. They are essentially Old World
methods, born of garden -culture and of cli-
mates less hot and sunny than ours. (See re-
marks under Section 13, Chapter IV.). They are
not adapted to commercial fruit-growing or plant-
growing in this country, nor to any country in
which land is cheap and hand labor dear. Yet,
so common are these special methods of training
fruit-trees in Europe that the Old World litera-
ture of pruning is largely descriptive of methods
and modes of growing plants on walls and trel-
lises and in geometrical figures. It is not neces-
sary to make any extended discussion of these
matters in this book, although a few summary
hints may be given for the benefit of those who
want the fun of training a few plants or who
desire to copy European methods. For details
the reader should consult foreign books, espe-
cially those in French.

We may analyze the subject as follows:
(341)

342 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

I. Training of plants growing in the open soil.

1. Without permanent support.

Pyramids,
Globe-form,
Vase-form, etc.

2. On permanent support.
a. On Espaliers —

cordon,

horizontal,

oblique,

fan -shape,

horizontal arm, etc.
6. On walls —

cordon,

horizontal,

oblique,

fan -shape,

horizontal arm, etc.
, II. Training of plants in receptacles (as pots

or tubs).

Trained in various fashions, but chiefly
as self-supporting bushes of many
shapes.

EUROPEAN PRACTICE

Before proceeding with our subject of special
forms of training, it will be necessary to con-
sider some of the words used in the above synop-
sis. In Europe (and properly) the word stand-

REMARKS ON TRAINING 343

ard means growing to a single trunk and not
trained to a wall, trellis, or other permanent sup-
port. In this country, it is used in contradis-
tinction to the word dwarf. An espalier is a
trellis, or a plant which is grown on a trellis.
The word does not refer to the mode of training.
A cordon is properly a plant grown to a single
shoot, or to two shoots trained in diametrically
opposite directions. It is sometimes used, how-
ever, to designate plants trained to two or more
straight shoots which are nearly or quite parallel.
Although the mode of training is largely a
question of personal preference, it must never-
theless conform to the principles of pruning,
if it is to be successful. One of the best accounts
which I know of the general principles under-
lying the training of plants, is by Du Breuil.*
Before proceeding to these principles, we may
enumerate Du BreuiPs reasons for training:

1. It enables us to impart to trees a form
suitable to the place they are intended to occupy.

2. Each of the principal branches of the tree
is furnished with fruit branches throughout its
full extent.

3. It renders the fructification more equal ; for
in removing every year the superabundant buds
and branches, we contribute to the formation of
new fruit-buds for the next year.

*Alphouse Du Breuil, "The Scientific and Profitable Culture of Fruit-
trees", English edition. An excellent book for the student.

344 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

4. It conduces to the production of large fruit
and of finer quality.

Du Breuil's "general principles of training,"
with corollaries, which apply with particular
force to training on walls and espaliers, now
follow :

The permanency of form of trained trees is dependent upon
the equal diffusion of sap being maintained throughout
the whole extent of their branches.

Prune the strong branches short ; but allow the weaker
ones to grow long.

Depress the strong parts of the tree, and elevate the
weak branches.

Suppress the useless buds upon the strong parts as early
as possible, and practice this suppression as late as pos-
sible upon the weak parts.

Suppress very early the herbaceous extremities of the
strong part, but practice the suppression as late as pos-
sible upon the weak part, taking off only the most vig-
orous shoots, and those that must in any case be removed
on account of the position they occupy.

Nail up the strong part very early and very close to the
wall or trellis, but delay doing so to the weak part.

Suppress a number of the leaves upon the strong side.

Allow as large a quantity of the fruit as possible to re-
main upon the strong side, and suppress all upon the
weak side.

Soften all the green parts on the weak side with a solu-
tion of sulfate of iron. ("This solution, in the propor-
tion of twenty- four grains to a pint of water, applied
after sunset, is absorbed by the leaves, and powerfully
stimulates their action in drawing the sap from the
roots.")

PRINCIPLES OF TRAINING 345

Bring forward the weak side from the wall, and keep
the strong side close to it.

Place a covering upon the strong part, so as to deprive
it of the light.

The sap develops the branches much more vigorously upon a
branch cut short, than upon one left long,

Tlie sap has always a tendency to flow towards the extremity
of the branches, and to make the terminal bud develop
ivith more vigor than the lateral ones.

The more the sap is retarded in its circulation, the less wood
and the more fruit-buds will it develop.

Apply to the branches which grow from the successive
extensions of the wood, and also to those which spring
from them, the operations calculated to diminish their
vigor.

Apply to the larger branches a certain number of Gi-
rardin's side grafts. (These are cions of fruit -spurs or
fruit-buds set into the twigs as common buds are set.
"These grafts, when fruiting, will absorb a considerable
part of the superabundant sap.")

Arch all the branches, so that a part of their extent be
directed towards the sun.

In the month of February, make an annular incision
with the hand-saw, near the base of the stem, rather less
than one-fourth of an inch in width, and sufficiently deep
to penetrate the exterior layer of the wood. ("The in-
cision has the effect of retarding the ascension of the
sap; the branches acquire less vigor, and the tree forms
fruit.")

At the spring of the year, uncover the foot of the tree
in such a manner as to expose the principal roots through-
out nearly their entire extent, and allow them to remain
in this state during the summer.

346 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

Uncover the foot of the tree at spring, and cut away
parts of the roots, and then replace the earth.

Transplant the trees at the end of autumn, but with
great care so as to preserve all the roots. (This is equiva-
lent to root -pruning.)

Every method which conduces to dimmish the vigor of the
wood and to make the sap flow to the fruit, tends to
augment the size of the fruit.

Graft upon stocks of a less vigorous species than the
cions.

Apply to the trees a suitable winter pruning; that is, do
not leave upon them more branches, or parts of branches,
than is requisite for the symmetrical development of the
tree and the formation of fruit -bearing branches.

Make fruit -spurs to grow close upon the branches by
pruning them as short as possible.

Cut the branches very close when the flower-buds are
formed.

Mutilate the summer shoots by repeatedly pinching off
those shoots that are not required for the development of
the size of the tree.

When the fruits have attained a fifth degree of their
development, suppress a further number of them.

Make an annular incision upon the fruit-bearing
branches at the time they expand their blossoms ; the
incision must not be wider than three -sixteenths of an
inch. ("Experience continually demonstrates that, fol-
lowing such incision, the fruit becomes much larger and
ripens better." See p. 281.)

Graft some of the fruit branches of vigorous trees with
the Girardin side graft. (See last page.)

Place under the fruits, during their growth, a support,
to prevent their stretching or twisting their foot-stalks or
pedicels. ("If left without support, it will often happen

PRINCIPLES OF TRAINING 347

that the fruit grows unequally, and a twisting movement
of the stalk follows, which injures the sap vessels. Be-
sides, the weight of the fruit alone, hanging on its stem,
stretches the sap vessels, and diminished their diameter.
When the fruits are supported, the sap penetrates more
freely, and their size is augmented accordingly.")

Keep the fruits in their normal position during the en-
tire period of their development; that is, with the fruit-
stem lowermost. (" The sap acts with greater force when
it flows upwards; a vertical position of the stalk, there-
fore, causes the sap to ascend more easily and in greater
quantity, and the fruit will become larger.")

Place the fruits under the shade of the leaves during
the entire period of their growth. ("If a young fruit be
exposed to the power of the sun, it will be smaller than
one shaded by the leaves, because its skin will be har-
dened, and not give way to the tendency of the sap to ex-
pand it.")

Apply to the young fruits a solution of sulfate of iron.
("We have already seen (page 334) that a solution of sul-
fate of iron applied to the leaves, stimulates their powers
of absorbing sap. The thought occurred to apply the
solution to the fruits, and the effect in increasing their
size was extraordinary. The solution should be in the
proportion of twenty -four grains to a pint of water.
Apply it only when the fruit is cool. Repeat the opera-
tion three times : when the fruits have obtained a fourth
part of their development ; when they are a little larger ;
and again when they are three parts grown.")

Graft by approach a small shoot upon the peduncle or
fruit- spur, to which the fruit is attached when it has at-
tained a third part of its development. ("It has been
found that consequent on this operation the fruit becomes
larger, doubtless because the graft draws to the peduncle
a larger quantity of sap." See p. 132 of "The Nursery-
Book," Third Ed.)

OF THF.

UNIVERSITY

348 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

The leaves serve the important purpose of elaborating the
sap of the roots and preparing it for the proper nourish-
ment of the tree, and the formation of buds upon the
boughs. A tree, therefore, that is deprived of its leaves
is in danger of perishing.

The yearly extensions of wood should be shortened more or
less, as the branches approach a vertical line, or the
contrary.

Plants are trained on walls for purposes of
decoration or for fruit -bearing. Fruit trees so
trained are protected from winter cold, and the
fruits receive greater warmth and sunlight than
they do when grown free. In sunny countries,
with hot weather at the period of fruit -ripening,
fruits develop their full color and flavor without
the aid of walls. In fact, in America the south
face of a wall may be too hot for the best re-
sults with some fruits. On a south wall, too,
the blossoms open very early in spring and are
in danger of being caught by frosts. This is
especially true of apricots and peaches, and for
them a westerly or even northerly exposure may
be preferable.

In Europe, gardens are very often surrounded
with brick walls several feet high ; and in many
cases, such walls are built across an area for the
particular purpose of fruit-growing. The walls
of buildings, whether of brick, stone or wood,
may be used. An apricot, peach, pear or other
fruit tree trained against a barn, shop, shed or

FRUIT WALLS 349

outhouse is not only a decoration but is an ob-
ject of much interest and, if the location, variety
and training are right, it should yield fruit of
extra quality. It should be said that these
trained trees cannot compete with orchard trees
in quantity of fruit, but they should surpass
them in the quality of the product.

Following is specific advice, from the English
standpoint, on the arrangement and construction
of walls and fences,* by Cheal:

"WALLS. — The arrangement and position of walls will, of
course, depend upon the size and the nature of the sur-
roundings, etc., but they should always be arranged, if pos-
sible, in a square, with the principal wall facing south, or
as nearly so as practicable. Where it is possible, place the
walls in such a position that the outside as well as the inside
borders may be used for fruit, thus making use of the whole
of the wall space; and bear in mind that upon the north
side many useful fruits may be grown. The position, size
and requirements are so varied that it is impossible in the
compass of this work to give more than a general idea as to
arrangements.

"The height of the walls should be from eight feet to
fifteen feet, according to circumstances. In most cases the
south wall may be lower, to admit more sunshine into the
garden ; and in the case of large gardens, one or more cross
walls may also be introduced. As to their construction,
they should be built without any piers. Architects have
generally a great fancy for piers, and in many instances,
insist upon having them ; but walls can be built without
piers, and they are always a great difficulty and nuisance to

*J. Cheal, "Practical Fruit-Culture," London, 1892, 112.

350 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

the gardener. They frequently interfere with the arrange-
ment of the trees when planting, and in training they are a
great trouble, and often cause much damage to the trees.
Another matter of importance in construction is to provide
a good permanent coping of tiles or stone, projecting at
least six inches from the face of the wall. These should in
all cases be provided independently of any further coping
for the protection of the trees at the time of flowering.

"REMOVABLE GLASS COPINGS are very useful for peaches,
nectarines and apricots. These are only required for a few
weeks in the spring, at the time of blossoming and setting
the fruit, and should be removed when no longer required.
Fixed glass copings are very objectionable, as they keep off
all rain, encourage red spider and other vermin, and neces-
sitate constant syringing. There are several manufactur-
ing firms who make light iron framework to carry the sashes,
these being so constructed as to allow of their easy re-
moval.

" In all cases it is a great saving of labor to wire the walls
or fences. These should be placed in lines not exceeding
nine inches apart. Galvanized hold-fasts, tighteners, and
all needful appliances are easily obtainable for the purpose.
The wires should be fixed at about two inches from the wall.

" TYING to the wire is much more quickly done than nailing
to the wall, and does not afford the same shelter to insect
pests, whilst it preserves the wall from injury due to con-
stant nailing, and allows the wood to ripen more thoroughly
and evenly. The branches are also enabled to form fruit-
spurs and buds all round, and it frequently happens that
the inside or back blossoms escape injury from frost which
damages the outer ones, and a crop is thereby saved. In
the case of all fruits, however, and especially that of
peaches and nectarines, it is needful to be very careful in
tying the trees in order to prevent the branch coming im-
mediately into contact with the galvanized wire. Many
instances have occurred of disease and decay resulting from

THE MAKING OF WALLS 351

this. There is, however, no danger if the precaution is
always taken in tying to cross the tie between the branch
and the wire, so that the branch is held firmly in position
without coming into actual contact with the wire. And the
danger may be still further lessened by painting the wires
and hold -fasts after fixing.

"ESPALIER FENCES. — These can generally be placed to ad-
vantage in a kitchen garden, as they occupy but little space,
and produce an abundance of fine fruit. They may be used
as a bordering near to the paths, or at the back of the
flower border, which is usually arranged on either side of
the central walk, but there are also other positions outside
the kitchen garden where they can be placed to advantage.
If the fruit is well grown, such fences present an artistic
appearance, and are admissible even in the ornamental
garden, or may be used as a division between the ornamen-
tal and kitchen garden. The fences themselves are usually
formed of galvanized iron posts, with wires stretched be-
tween. They require at each end a strong post made of
angle iron, with anchor feet and stays, to bear the strain
of tightening the wire. The intermediate posts need only
be flat iron with anchor feet. For the ordinary horizontal
form of training, five to six feet in height will be sufficient,
but if made high enough— say from seven to nine feet—
these fences are very good for training cordons upon. Goose-
berries may also be trained upon low espalier fences of three
to four feet in height, and when trained as double cordons,
or as palmettes with three to five branches, they produce the
finest possible fruit ; and this mode is strongly recommended
for growing the choice dessert varieties.

"WIRE ARCHES.— These may sometimes be suitably intro-
duced into the kitchen garden, spanning some of the paths.
They occupy but little ground space, and afford excellent
means for the training of cordons. They give a pleasant
shade to the path, the trees are well supported, and the fruit
spread out to the full effect of the sun, and in some respects

352 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OP TRAINING

they are better for training the cordon trees upon than ordi-
nary espaliers. The turn at the top gives the gentle check to
the upright flow of sap so desirable and advantageous for
securing fine fruit at the base of the tree. A garden in this
neighborhood has one of these arches 350 feet in length,
spanning the central road through the large kitchen garden,
and being fifteen feet wide and of the same height, it forms
a magnificent avenue.

"WOODEN FENCES.— It sometimes happens that wooden
fences are placed in such a position as to be available for
fruit. A wooden fence is in no case so good as a wall, as
in the best of them there is always some draught, so that
there is not the same uniform temperature maintained as in
the case of walls, which, from their greater substance,
retain a certain amount of warmth during the night.
Nevertheless, wooden fences are very useful for fruit.
They should always be wired before planting the trees, as
it is difficult to nail to the wooden fences, whilst wire also
possesses other advantages. I have seen wooden fences
employed to great advantage in Guernsey for fruit-growing.
In one case in particular I noticed a number of light wooden
fences, about six feet high and nine feet apart, running
north and south, and parallel to each other. These were
covered on both sides with cordon -trained pears, and at the
time of my visit they were laden with heavy crops of re-
markably fine fruit, and the cultivator was by these means
enabled to grow a very large quantity in a small space.

"Many wooden fences surrounding the gardens of sub-
urban villas might be turned to very useful account for
growing fruit, and would afford healthful and interesting
employment to the over -wrought brain -worker in cultivating
it, as well as enable him to supply his own table with the
freshest of fruit. There are also numberless wooden fences,
as well as walls, in many of our farms and homesteads,
which could be turned to profitable account by covering
them with fruit, trained as above described.

ENGLISH ADVICE 353

« BUSH-FRUITS. —Plantations of these are usually made
outside the walled- in garden, either below orchard trees or
in the open ground. The latter is much preferable, as they
can receive better treatment and safer protection from
birds. The last mentioned consideration is an important
one. Where choice dessert fruit is required it must of
necessity remain on the trees until fully ripe, and some of
it has to remain as long as possible after ripening, to pro-
long the season of use. With these the birds are extremely
troublesome. The best way of protecting them, and also
the cheapest in the long run, is to cover the plantation with
galvanized wire netting.* Erect sufficient posts, and stretch
from these galvanized wire at a height of six feet from the
ground. Then across the wires fix the netting. Wire it
together, and fasten it to the ground all round. If erected
as above, it allows any one to work inside — to prune, clean
and gather, etc. — whilst effectually preventing birds from
approaching the fruit.

"The position of the bush-fruit outside the walled-in
garden would, of course, depend upon circumstances, but
it can generally be arranged very close at hand, and in con-
junction with it, the sea-kale and rhubarb beds, etc., which
are somewhat untidy in the spring, owing to the copious
application of manure, etc., required. The soil for the
bush -fruits should be prepared by trenching and manuring
as described for the inside kitchen garden."

In the Old World, trees are trimmed in the nur-
sery to adapt them to particular modes of train-
ing. In fact, the training is often begun there.
Fig. 235 is a young peach tree trained for a palm
shape. The main shaft is supported by a stake,
and two long stakes are attached to it, like a

*A bird-netting is made in this country. See "Principles of Fruit-
Growing," 296.— L. H. B.
W

354 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

gable. Other stakes are tied across this frame,
and to them the arms of the tree are secured.
Persons in this country who desire to train trees

235. Trained peach tree, ready for setting in
permanent quarters.

to special shapes, -should buy yearling trees of
the nurseries. These are provided with buds on
the main trunk or shaft, and when they are

STARTING THE TRAINING 355

headed -back, the required number of shoots may
be secured in the proper positions. It may even
be important not to select the largest yearlings,
for on them the lower buds may be very weak.
This is particularly true with peach trees, for in
these the lower side buds break the first year, and
the nurseryman trims them off into order to get a
straight and long -bodied tree.

How high to leave the trunk and how many
branches to take out, depend entirely upon the
mode of training which the operator has in mind.
I have inserted various extracts which will serve
as specimen examples to suggest the general
methods of procedure.

Before undertaking any method of special train-
ing, the operator should apprehend the idea that
there is no necessary or essential mode for any
fruit. The mode of training is diametrically op-
posed to the natural habit of the plant, and it
is, therefore, a mental and arbitrary ideal. This
fact will be apparent if the reader considers that
most of the illustrations in the Old World literature
of the subject are diagrams, not pictures. The
operator works to geometrical figures. He sets a
pattern ; and the more nearly the plant approaches
this pattern the more satisfactory is the training.

Some of the common forms in which fruit
trees are trained are suggested in the following
translation from Bois : *

*D. Bois, «Le Petit Jardin," Paris, 264.

356 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

"THE PYRAMID.— An old and a good form, suitable es-
pecially for pear trees. Its advantages are, that it can be
cultivated in borders, where it relatively takes up little
room; that it freely allows circulation of air and light;
that it casts very little shade ; and that it bears abundantly.
The pyramid or cone consists of a principal or vertical stem,
covered with lateral branches from a point thirty centime-
ters [a centimeter is about two-fifths of an inch] above the
ground to the top of the tree. The branches, which grow
somewhat obliquely, are separated from each other by a
distance of about thirty centimeters, diminishing gradually
in length from the bottom to the top, thus forming a cone,
the largest diameter of which is about one-third of the
total height.

"THE COLUMN OR SPINDLE.— This form is adapted to
pears and apple trees. It has the advantage of taking up
less room than the pyramid, and of bearing more quickly.
On the other hand, it is not so long-lived, and is suitable
for less vigorous varieties only. The column differs from
the pyramid only in the fact that its lateral branches are
shorter.

"THE VASE. — Around a central stem, and at a distance
of about fifteen centimeters above the ground, arise
branches which grow first horizontally and then vertically,
in such a way as to give to the entire tree the form of a
vase. The branches must be separated from each other by
a distance of about thirty centimeters, and they are main-
tained in this position by tying them to hoops fastened to
stakes inserted in the ground. This form is justly much
esteemed. It freely allows a circulation of light and air
through all its parts.

"THE BUSH OR TUFT.— The bush is suitable for currants,
raspberries, etc. From the crotch of the plant, or at a short
distance above the ground, arise branches which grow in
every direction. It is simply necessary to train them so
that they do not interfere with each other.

BOIS ON TRAINING 357

"THE HORIZONTAL CORDON (Fig. 236) is suitable espe-
cially for apple trees grafted on Paradise stock, and to the
less vigorous varieties of pear trees grafted on quince stock.
This form is especially to be recommended for the borders
of walks. It consists of a stern which first grows verti-
cally, then bent at a certain height, and is maintained in
this horizontal position by attaching it to wire. The trees
are planted at a distance of two or three meters [a meter

236. Apple trained to a simple cordon.

is nearly forty inches] from each other, and their stems,
when meeting, form a long, unbroken garland or wreath,
which makes a very pretty effect.

"ESPALIER training is to be especially recommended.
It is suitable for all kinds of fruit trees, and allows the
cultivation, in our latitude, of varieties the fruits of which
would not ripen at all, or would ripen incompletely in a
more exposed situation. When trained against walls, they
receive an amount of heat sufficient to produce fruit of a
superior quality. These include peaches, grapes, certain
kinds of apricots, apples, pears, etc. The utilization of
these walls is much neglected, and there would often be
much profit in covering with espaliers the fronts of houses
and all kinds of walls, especially when placed in a good

358 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

situation, training the trees according to the form of the
wall. The simplest form of espalier is the vertical cordon,
which allows the trees to be planted very near together,
which soon bring's in a moderate return, and in a few years
covers the wall. Like the column, this form is suitable
only for the less vigorous varieties. It must be trained
against a moderately high wall, for its growth is consid-
erably stimulated by the suppression of its lateral branches,
so that the principal stem has a tendency of growing rap-
idly. Whenever it is necessary to cut them back very
much, it produces an excessive development of wood, to
the detriment of its productiveness. A form like a U, which
is self-explanatory, is frequently employed. It is certainly
one of the best.

"THE CANDELABRUM (Figs. 237, 240) is formed by a
number of lateral branches, from three to six, distributed
regularly along the principal stem. The simple palmette
or palm leaf (Fig. 235) has a larger number of lateral
branches. The Palmette Verrier differs from the preceding
only in the fact that after a certain distance its branches
grow vertically. Palmettes are formed with 6, 7, 8, 10, 12
branches, and even with more."

How to train a pyramid standard pear tree is
explained as follows by Rivers : *

"If a young gardener intends to plant, and wishes to
train up his trees so that they will become quite perfect in
shape, he should select plants one year old from the bud or
graft, with single upright stems ; these will, of course, have
good buds down to the junction of the graft with the stock.
The first spring a tree of this description should be headed -
down, so as to leave the stem about eighteen inches long.
If the soil be rich, from five to six and seven shoots will be

"Thomas Rivers, "The Miniature Fruit-Garden."

RIVERS ON PYRAMIDS 359

produced ; one of these must be made the leader, and if not
inclined to be quite perpendicular, it must be fastened to a
stake. As soon, in summer, as the leading shoot is ten
inches long, its end must be pinched off; and if it pushes
forth two or more shoots, pinch off all but one to three
leaves, leaving the topmost for a leader. The side shoots
will, in most cases, assume a regular shape; if not, they
may be this first season tied to slight stakes to make them
grow in the proper direction. This is best done by bring-
ing down and fastening the end of each shoot to a slight
stake, so that an open pyramid may be formed — for if it is
too close and cypress -like, enough air is not admitted to
the fruit. They may remain unpruned till the end of
August, when each shoot must be shortened to within eight
buds of the stem.

"The second season the tree will make vigorous growth;
the side shoots which were topped last August will each
put forth three, four, or more shoots. In June, as soon as
these have made five or six leaves, they must be pinched
off to three leaves, and if these spurs put forth shoots,
which they often do, every shoot must be pinched down
to one or two leaves, all but the leading shoot of each side
branch; this must be left on to exhaust the tree of its
superabundant sap, till the end of August, unless the tree
is being trained as a compact pyramid. The perpendicular
leader must be topped once or twice; in short, as soon as
it has grown ten inches, pinch off its top, and if it break
into two or three shoots, pinch them all but the leader, as
directed for the first season: in a few years most sym-
metrical trees may be formed.

"When they have attained the height of six or eight
feet, and are still in a vigorous state, it will be necessary
to commence root-pruning, to bring them into a fruitful
state.

"If some of the buds on the stem of a young tree prove
dormant, so that part of it is bare and without a shoot

360 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF .TRAINING

where there should be one, a notch, half an inch wide,
and nearly the same in depth, should be cut in the stem
just above the dormant bud. If this be done in February,
a young shoot will break out in the summer.*

"As the summer pinching of pyramidal pears is the
most interesting feature in their culture, and perhaps the
most agreeable of all horticultural occupations, I must
endeavor to give plain instructions to carry it out.

"The first season after the planting, about the middle
or end of June, the side buds and branches will put forth
young shoots; each will give from one to three or four.
Select that which is most horizontal in its growth (it should
be on the lower part of the branch, as the tree will then
be more inclined to spread) for a leader to that branch,
and pinch off all the others to three leaves. If these
pinched shoots again push, suffer them to make three
leaves, and then pinch them to two leaves; but if the
horizontal branch has a good leader, it will take off all the
superfluous sap, and prevent the pinched spurs from break-
ing; the buds will only swell, and the following season
they will be fruit -spurs. The upper shoots of the tree,
say to about two feet from its top, should be pinched a
week before the lower shoots: this gives strength to those
on the lower part of the tree.

"In spring the perpendicular leader of the preceding
year's growth will put forth numerous shoots, which must
be pinched in June in the following manner: those nearest
the base, leave six inches in length, gradually decreasing
upwards, leaving those next the young leading shoot only
two inches long. The leader of these ready-formed pyra-
mids need not be shortened in summer, as directed for
younger trees; it may be suffered to grow till the hori-

*Bare places in the stems of pyramids, and in the branches of espa-
liers or wall trees, may be budded towards the end of August with
blossom-buds taken from shoots two years old. This is a very inter-
esting mode of furnishing a tree with fruit-bearing buds. Page 345.

HARDY ON PALMETTES 361

zontal leaders are shortened in August, and then left six
or eight inches in length; but if the trees are to be kept
to six or seven feet in height under root-pruning, this
leading shoot may be shortened to two inches, or even
cut close down to its base. For tall pyramids of ten,
twelve, or fifteen feet, it may be left from eight to ten
inches in length till the required height be attained; it
may then be cut to within two inches of its base every
season."

The methods to be pursued in the training of
trees on espaliers may be explained by a concrete
example. I choose an extract from Hardy* re-
specting the training of a palmette on an espa-
lier. A simple palmette is a plant with a single
erect stem and a number of side branches, as in
Fig. 235 ; a vertical -branched palmette or can-
delabrum is shown in Fig. 237.

"We endeavor to obtain three branches, — one to continue
the growth of the trunk, the two others to furnish two
lowest lateral branches. To secure this result, we will
choose a bud [head -in the shoot] about thirty centimeters
[a centimeter is nearly two-fifths of an inch] from the
ground. The middle bud will push a shoot upwards and
the two others obliquely, but not too near the horizontal,
so that they can make a vigorous growth. There is nothing
else to do during the growing season, if the equilibrium
between them maintains itself.

"The vertical -branched palmette does best in soils of
medium quality, as well as for high walls. In the first case,
the vertically of the main branches assures to the last a

*J. A. Hardy, "Traite de la Taille des Arbres Fruitiers," Paris, 1865,
129, 1:J7. One of the best books on the subject.

362 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

more sustained vegetation than when they are horizontal.
In the second case, they more promptly cover the wall, for
with this form we can plant the trees very close to each
other, a meter [about forty inches] or a meter and a quarter
apart, according to the distance which we leave between

237. Candelabrum espalier pear tree.

the branches; the more we stretch out the framework the
more the sap is reserved for a less number of branches.

"The manner of establishing this form scarcely differs
from that of the simple palmette. The first year we trim
as described in the first paragraph, only that instead of
obtaining two oblique lateral shoots, as there described, it
is necessary to cut the stem back to only about forty centi-
meters, and we train the two branches (A) up vertically.
* * * The second year we pinch the shoot to obtain the
second pair of branches about twenty centimeters above the

BELLAIR ON CORDONS 363

first, and we direct these into the center of the space be-
tween the first two branches, training these framework
branches twenty centimeters from each other. Then we
trim the first branches (A) to a length double that of the
trunk. The space of twenty centimeters is not absolute ;
we can make it twenty-five centimeters. Then, instead of
planting the trees one meter apart, we can place them a
meter and a quarter, in such manner that the extremes of
the framework of neighboring trees shall be as far apart as
are the main branches of the tree itself. This second dis-
tance is preferable, as the branches receive more light and
air, a condition which is essential for good fruit-bearing.

"The following years the treatment follows the method
indicated, with all the main branches [two pairs and the
trunk], but, however, taking care that we leave the outside
branches (A) a little longer than the others, so that they can
maintain their predominance. The tree thus treated arrives
at the height of the wall in the sixth year, if its vigor is
maintained and it meets with no accident."

The treatment of a simple horizontal cordon
(Fig. 236) is thus described by Bellair:*

"When grown in this way, the pear tree consists of a
stem bent at a distance of forty centimeters above the
ground, then trained horizontally and covered with fruit -
bearing branches. The cordons are trained as much as
possible toward the strongest light. If the plantation is
established on a slope, it is necessary to train the cordons
toward the summit of the slope. Only pears grafted on
quince stock, and apple trees grafted on Paradise or
Doucin stock, can be grown in this way. Pear trees and
apple trees grafted on their own stock are too vigorous, as
they require (for otherwise they would remain sterile) more

*G. Ad. Bellair, "Les Arbres Fruitiers," Paris, 1891, 164.

364 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

room than the horizontal cordon allows. One-year-old
apple cions grafted on Paradise stock must be planted at a
distance of three meters from each other. One-year-old
apple cions grafted on Doucin stock, and pears on quince
stock, must be planted at a distance of four meters from
each other. The first year they are cut at a distance of
about sixty centimeters above the ground, and near a bud,
which is located on the side toward which the stem is to be
inclined. In the autumn or in the following spring, these
cions are gradually bent. But if the part beyond the bend
must be strictly horizontal, it is necessary that the ex-
tremity of the cordon be slightly raised, in order to facili-
tate the flow of the sap, and consequently the elongation of
the cordon. From this time, the yearly growth of the cor-
don must be cut in such a way as to preserve two -thirds or .
three -fourths of its length. It is soon covered with
branches, some of which are entirely fertile (that is, bear-
ing fruit -producing buds), while the others, or sterile ones,
must be cut away. This kind of treatment prevents them
from obtaining too large a growth and thus still more de-
stroying its fertility."

Excepting the grape, the training of the peach
has probably been the subject of more literature*
than that of any other plant ; yet so different
are the American conditions and ideals from
the European that this technical literature has
almost no application in this country. The
United States is a land of peaches, notwithstand-
ing the fact that this fruit is adapted to only
special localities. It is not necessary that we

*Consult, as an example, Brehaut's "Modern Peach Pruner"; also
Hartwig "Die Kultur des Pfirsichbaumes am Spaliere," Weimar, 1886.

THOMSON ON PEACH TRAINING 365

train them to walls, or that we give them any
other special or peculiar treatment in the way of
training. Those who are interested in Old World
practices, however, or who desire to train peaches
on walls or in houses, will appreciate the follow-
ing extract from Thomson : *

"Many ways of training and pruning the peach and
nectarine have been practiced and recommended. French
horticulturists especially have been very successful in train-
ing them in several ways characterized by regularity and
neatness. The single -cordon as well as the multiciple-
cordon systems are favorite modes of training in France.
Modifications, partaking more or less of the French sys-
tems, have been practiced and recommended, especially by
Seymour, in England. But the ordinary fan system of
training is by far the most generally practiced and liked.
It is, especially under glass, the mode of training which
the most successful forcers of the peach have adopted, and
it is that which I recommend. Many grand old examples of
peach trees under glass are to be found in this country,
which have all along been trained -on the fan principle, and
that are yet in fine bearing condition, being well furnished
from top to bottom with young bearing wood. Taking a
young tree, which I have recommended for planting as the
foundation of a fan-trained tree, different cultivators who
are most in favor of this system of training would deal
differently with the ten young growths [five branches on
each side, and no leader, all arising from near the top of a
short trunk] with which it is furnished. Some would cut
them all back again to within five or six buds of their base ;
others would not shorten them at all, but would let them

* David Thomson, "Handy Book of Fruit Culture Under Glass," 152,
with figures.

366 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

start into growth with as many young shoots as could be
tied to the trellis without crowding them. What I have
practiced and would recommend is a mean between these
two. The two center shoots I would shorten back to half
their length, the other eight shoots to be merely topped
back to solid, well-ripened wood. The cutting somewhat
closely back of the two center ones makes it certain that
two or three good, strong growths will start from near their
base to properly fill up the center of the tree with leaders.
Each of the other eight shoots should have all their buds
removed by degrees, except one near the baseband one or
two at equal distances between it and the leading bud, ac-
cording to the length of the shoots; two buds to be left
on the under side— if the shoots are long enough to have
room for three on the upper side, — the buds on the one side
to alternate in position with those on the other. These
lateral growths, with the leader, are enough to lay a foun-
dation to serve for the future full-grown tree. The lateral
growths should be allowed to grow without being stopped.
Should the leaders show signs of growing very vigorously
at the expense of the side growths, stop them whenever
they show such a tendency. This will cause them to make
lateral growths freely, and equally balance the growth of
all the young shoots. This encouragement of lateral
growths, especially on the young wood in the center of the
tree, gives sufficient to furnish the tree without having
recourse to the undesirable practice of first allowing a few
very strong leaders to monopolize the sap, and then to cut
them down at the winter pruning. In this way much time
is gained in covering a wall or trellis with bearing wood.

"A young tree thus managed on what may be termed a
mean between the extension and the cutting -hard -back
systems produces a comparatively large, well -furnished
tree the autumn after it is planted, and one which requires
very little or no winter pruning before starting it into
another year's growth. If the summer disbudding and

THOMSON ON THE PEACH 367

pinching of the first season's growth have been properly
attended to, the tree will be so thoroughly furnished with
young wood that all the pruning that should be done is
simply to remove any shoots that would crowd the tree.
The distance between the shoots should not be less than
three or four inches. In February, 1878, I planted a num-
ber of young peaches and nectarines in an orchard -house.
In the autumn not a single shoot was shortened-back, and
at the close of their second year's growth the trees thor-
oughly furnished, in many instances, spaces of eighteen
feet by thirteen feet, and a great many of them sixteen
feet by twelve feet, besides bearing a good crop the season
after being planted. There are some magnificent trees at
Brayton Hall, which Mr. Hammond, the able gardener
there, managed on the extension system, and consequently
filled their allotted spaces and bore grand crops in half the
time in which this could have been done by the old cutting-
back system.

" After the trees have grown and covered the space al-
lotted to each, the system of pruning must be directed so
as to continually keep the whole tree regularly supplied
with young fruit-bearing wood. With a view to this, of
course, the yearly removal of old wood in winter, and the
laying in of a corresponding amount of young wood in
summer, must be carefully attended to. * * * *

" Some make a practice of cutting back the young bear-
ing wood to two -thirds its length. I do not advocate this
indiscriminately. Where the shoots are long and not well-
ripened, and the buds consequently weak, they should be
shortened-back to where the wood is firm, and always to
a strong wood -bud. Peach trees in a healthy condition
have their buds in clusters of three— a wood-bud in the
center, and a fruit-bud on each side of it; and to such a
cluster of buds they should always be cut when cut at all.

"Well-established trees that have borne heavy crops
regularly, and especially those that have been forced early,

368 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

generally make shorter and stronger growths, well studded
with strong clusters of buds. In this case it is inadvisable
to shorten them back at all. A watchful eye must always
be kept on the lower portion of the tree, so that it is not
allowed to get bare of young fruit -bearing growths. It
need scarcely be said that, from the fact that it is the
young wood that bears, the tendency is for it to be in
greatest abundance at the top.

"The best guarantee against trees becoming bare of
young bearing-wood at their lowest parts, is to annually cut
back a few healthy young growths to two or three eyes,
and allow as many of these to bud and grow as may be re-
quired to keep up the supply of young wood. This is an
indispensable necessity, from the fact that portions of old
wood have annually to be removed at the top of the tree.
In practice, all other things being equal, there is little diffi-
culty experienced in thus furnishing the lower portions of
the tree with bearing -wood. All cutting should be effected
with a sharp, thin knife; and whenever it becomes neces-
sary to remove an old limb, the wound should be painted
solidly over with white paint."

In order to show the nicety to which training
may be carried, the following extract from Du
Breuil will be interesting : *

"TRAINING OF THE PEAR IN VASE OR GOBLET FORM.—
Trees in the pyramidal form are, in some situations, liable
to injury from high winds. When that is the case, the
vase or goblet form may be substituted. But it is not
otherwise to be preferred, for it requires as much room as
the pyramid form, and does not present so great a fruit -
bearing surface.

" Trees in vase form should leave a diameter of about six

*"The Scientific and Profitable Culture of Fruit Trees."

ADVICE 369

feet six inches (and an equal height), so that the solar
rays may act upon the whole interior surface of the vase.
An interval of twelve inches should be left between each
of the branches. Supposing the tree to be twenty feet in
circumference, there should be about twenty branches at
the base, from which to form the tree.

"The branches may either be trained vertically, or made
to cross each other alternately right to left, following an
angle of thirty degrees, as shown in Fig. 238. We con-
sider the latter form preferable. The sap acts more equally
throughout the entire extent of the branches, which also
fruit more regularly, and the tree can better support itself
when completely formed.

"The method of proceeding to develop the wood is as
follows : Choose plants that have been grafted a year, and
apply the first pruning; when they have been planted out
another year, cut them down to sixteen inches from the
ground. During the summer select five shoots, and main-
tain an equal degree of vigor by pinching. At the second
pruning, cut off each of the branches to sixteen inches
from their base, above two buds growing laterally, so as to
make each of the branches fork ; lower the branches a little
and dispose them regularly round the circumference of the
stem by means of a hoop. During the summer equalize the
vigor between the ten shoots that have now been obtained.
At the third pruning, cut back each of the ten shoots to
twelve inches from their base, to make them fork a second
time. Incline the branches again, and equalize the spaces
between them by means of two hoops, the uppermost being
the larger. Treat the twenty shoots that have grown during
the summer in the same manner as the previous ones. At
the fourth pruning, suppress only the third of the length of
the new branches, and again incline them downwards to an
angle of about twenty degrees, then raise the ends of the
branches in a vertical position at about three feet from the
stem, and keep them in that position by means of addi-
x

370 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

tional hoops. During the summer allow only one terminal
bud to develop. When the time arrives for the fifth opera-
tion, cross the branches at the place of their second fork-
ing, directing them alternately right and left, inclined to an

238. Outline of pear trained in vase form.

angle of thirty degrees. Fig. 239 shows the plan of a pear
tree trained in this form, and how the branches should be
crossed. The new extensions, obtained during the previous
summer, must be left entire, and so on from year to year,
until the tree has attained its proper size. The inclined
position of the branches will cause them to put forth nu-
merous shoots, each of which must be trained in a spiral
direction, to be arrested only when the tree attains a height
of about six or seven feet, when it will be fully formed,
and resemble Fig. 238.

VASE -FORM TREES 371

"As the tree increases in height, each of the branches
must be grafted together by approach [inarching] at each of
the points where they cross. This will give great strength

239. Plan of the tree.

and solidity to the tree, and enable it to dispense with any
other support when the wood is completely established.

" The fruit branches, which are not shown on the figures,
are formed and kept in bearing in the same manner as in
pyramid trees."

Before leaving this part of our discussion, -we
may look at the pictures. With the exception
of Figs. 238, 239, 242, these are made from photo-
graphs taken at various times by the writer.
Fig. 235 is a palm -leaf (or palmette) peach tree,
ready for planting against a wall. This tree was
on exhibition at the Gartenban Austellung, at Ham-
burg, in 1897. Fig 236 is a cordon dwarf apple

372 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

from Saxony. The wire is about twenty inches
above the ground, and the single arm or trunk
of the tree extends about eight feet. Fig. 237
is a sketch of part of an espalier pear in the
grounds of the Gartenbau Hochschule, near Berlin.

240. Three-arm espalier.

Fig. 240, from Germany, is part of a three- arm
candelabra espalier apple tree. Fig. 241 is an
old espalier Greening apple tree growing in west-
ern New York. The trellis has long since been
removed and the tree now supports itself, although
extending over a space about thirty feet long.
This is not a good specimen of training, but it
shows how readily a dwarf apple can be made

PICTURES OF TRAINED TREES

373

to assume a horizontal direction. Fig. 242 is a
diagram of a wall- trained apricot. Fig. 243 is

241. Old apple espalier in New York.

a dwarf pear trained in fan -shape on a wall, in
England. Fig. 244 is a pear tree covering the

242. Wall-trained apricot of palmette form.

south front of a cottage in southern Bavaria.
The photograph was taken in August, and the

374 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

season's growths are seen projecting beyond the
roof -line.

TREES AND BUSHES IN POTS

Many fruit trees are successfully grown in pots
or boxes, being used either for forcing purposes
or for fruit -bearing at their normal season. Such

243. Fan -trained dwarf pear.

trees, unless used for forcing, are chiefly valuable
as ornamentals and curiosities, although the fruits
should be of the very finest quality. Fig. 245 is
an apple tree several years old, in full bearing.
It is in a sixteen -inch pot. Trees of this size
should ripen from ten to twenty-five apples. Pot-
grown apples and pears should be dwarfs.

TREES IN POTS

375

Peaches and apricots on their own roots do well
in pots. Cherries are usually worked on Mahaleb

244. Good specimen of wi

for this purpose, and plums are often grown on
Myrobalan roots. Trees should bear in the third
or fourth year.

376 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

The following sketch from Warneken* conveys
a general idea of the method of trimming and
training pot -fruits in the pyramid form (which
is the most popular shape) :

" The form of trees is given but little attention by many
pot-fruit tree growers, they looking only to large yields of
fruit. Others, again, desire to give pot -fruit trees every
conceivable artificial form, even espalier forms having
been recommended. Although it must be constantly our
aim to produce a large fruit yield, it is not necessary,
thereby, to neglect the form of the trees ; and a pleasing
form with a large yield can be readily combined.

"FORM OF THE TREES. — Our pot trees must at times be
set closely together, and it is, therefore, not desirable to
produce such large forms as demand much space; as, e. g.,
crown trees or trees of cup shape. If, however, it is de-
sirable to train these forms in pots, their pruning may be
studied in a pruning book. We shall not describe this
pruning, as we do not care to puzzle the beginner with so
many artificial forms, but we shall suggest such simple
and easily made forms as appeal to a rational culture, and
which are the result of many years of experience. For
such varieties of fruits as in their nature are suitable to
the pyramidal form, this remains the best. We, therefore,
give our trees, with advantage, only the following form.

"Apples and pears we train to a narrow shape, — in the
full grown condition a pyramid about fifty to sixty centi-
meters wide [a centimeter is about two -fifths of an inch].
Peaches, plums, cherries, apricots and figs we train to a
pyramidal bush, which, however, should not be over sixty
centimeters wide at the bottom. With peaches and plums,
the more practi'cal narrow pyramids recommended for

*H. B. Warneken, "Die Kultur des Obstbaumes im Topfe", Frank-
furt a. d. Oder, 1889, 33.

TREES IN POTS

377

apples and pears, also columnar pyramids, may be used.
Grapes cultivated in pots are trained to so-called spiral
cordons, which have a corkscrew -like, twisted stem car-
ried on three stakes.

"PRELIMINARY TRAINING, IN ITS FIRST YEAR, OF A TREE
DESTINED FOR POT - CULTURE.— Peaches and other fruits can

245. Pot-grown apple
in full bearing.

246. Pot tree in
July of its sec-
ond year.

247. Showing

how the tree is to

be pruned.

be prepared for pot culture in their first year. If we have
personally budded our trees, we pinch off the tip of the
young shoot which appears in early summer, according to
its strong or weak development, when it has grown to a

378 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OP TRAINING

length of thirty to fifty centimeters. As a result, the
buds at the side will develop in the first year into small
shoots. As soon as these have formed four or five buds,
they are pinched back to two or three buds. If the
highest of these lengthening buds develops a strong shoot,
and if the side shoots are backward and irregularly placed,
the main shoot can be pinched again. The trees thus
treated during the first year have a stronger and more
compact form, and all the lower buds are better developed.
We gain time, therefore, by making the best of the first
year, particularly with peaches, and secure more rapidly
bearing trees.

"THE ONE-YEAR-OLD TREE, generally smooth and un-
branched, will be at our disposal. If, however, too early
side shoots have been developed, they must be removed at
their base on the stem, in order net to secure a confused
tree. We now cut all such imbranched one-year-old trees
of all fruits to the length noted for peaches, that is, fifty
centimeters, and to a strong bud. With stone fruits we
now choose three to four buds pointing in different direc-
tions, beginning above fifteen centimeters from the ground,
and crescent -like cuts are made with a sharp knife into the
bark above each of these. If all the buds on these stems
develop, we retain but six or seven of those on top and
pinch off the lower ones, as our pyramids shall not branch
immediately above the soil, but shall first make a stem fif-
teen to twenty centimeters high, in order that the fruits
shall not be too near the soil and get dirty and be of lesser
value. The uppermost shoot is fastened perpendicularly to
the projecting stub (Fig. 246) The remaining side shoots
we try to have equally strong, and we secure this by pinch-
ing back the stronger. All shoots have their points pinched
off as soon as they are thirty centimeters long. From July
to August we remove the stub which projects beyond the
uppermost branch (Fig. 246) . On apples, pears, peaches,
apricots, plums, and cherries we have nothing to do other

TREES IN POTS 379

than what has been mentioned, and to keep them in health
and free from pests. If the plant lice are not promptly
removed, they greatly injure the young trees while they are
yet developing their structure, as they suck out completely
the young shoots so that they dry out. If we have one-
year-old stems of pears and plums which, during the first
year, have clothed themselves all over and in a regular
manner with shoots, beginning fifteen centimeters above
the ground, we cut these back to three buds. The stem
itself is taken back one -third its length, and is then and
ever thereafter cut to a spur or stub.

"THE SECOND YEAR.— At the winter pruning of the sec-
ond year, the side shoots of seed fruits are reduced to four
to six buds and those of the stone fruits to three to four
buds. With the seed fruits, we try to call forth weak
shoots from all buds by means of cross-cuts above them.
In the case of stone fruits, this must never be done, as
by this means the outflow of sap and the so-called bleed-
ing would be induced. The stem, when strong and over
thirty centimeters long, is cut back to one -half its length,
or to about six to eight buds. Weak and short shoots up
to twenty centimeters remain uncut. The summer pruning
or pinching back is practiced on all trees. As soon as
the strongest shoots have developed six buds, they are
pinched back to four buds, and this treatment is gradually
given to the others as they develop. If the shoots should
again grow out, the new growth is pinched back to two
buds, and this treatment is continued all summer, so that
every new shoot is reduced to two buds. This repeated
pinching has for its object the thickening of the buds at
the base of the shoot and to change them to fruit -buds.
The bearing wood in the seed fruits can bear fruit for
years, and it is therefore only necessary to induce the
gradual change of the woody shoots into bearing wood.

"The tree in July of its second year is shown in Fig. 246.
Z is the stub to be removed in July at the point S. At a

380 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

are points at which side shoots are pinched back. Fig. 247
shows the winter pruning on the two -year -old tree. S,
points at which all side shoots are to be cut. 1, 2, 3, buds
which are to receive cross-cuts. St, the bud destined to
lengthen the stem; it must be above the point of last
year's cut, as at O; St, up to *, the new stub; i, point at
which the shoot is cut.

"In the stone fruits, the wood which has borne dies off,
and it is necessary to have new bearing wood each year.
We must, therefore, prune in such a manner that con-
tinually new bearing wood for the next year is formed.
Therefore, on every fruiting branch of a peach there should
be two leaf-buds at its base as a reserve. On the branches
of the peach are found buds of varying appearance, — thick
roundish, and thin pointed. The former are 'flower-buds
and the latter leaf-buds. It happens at times that a flower-
bud stands alone, generally on thin bearing branches, and
again that a leaf-bud stands alone, as on strong shoots and
young stems. We may also find a flower-bud and a leaf-
bud or two flower-buds united, and finally a pointed leaf-
bud between two round flower-buds. Our peach trees are
therefore cut for the first time in the early spring, when
even the beginner can distinguish flower and leaf -buds.
On many strong branches nothing but leaf-buds are found,
on single, thin fruit branches again only flower-buds. The
latter, we may as well mention here, are the worst, as they
must die from lack of leaf -buds. The best fruit branches
are studded with triple and double buds, and have at their
base some simple leaf-buds. The majority of fruit
branches have only simple and double buds and at the point
a leaf -bud. Excellent fruit -bearers are the very short
cluster spurs but a few centimeters long. These have at
their tip a whole bouquet of flower-buds and a leaf-bud in
the center, and these are not pruned. Our task is, then, to
keep the shortest possible branches, and allow those to bear
fruit which have leaf-buds above their flowers, in order to

PEACHES IN POTS 381

lead away the superfluous sap not necessary for the fruit.
At the same time, these branches must have at their base
several leaf -buds to which we may cut back and cause the
production of bearing wood for the next year. Long and
thin branches, with but single or double flower -buds and a
leaf -bud at the point, can bear fruit, but leave behind only
bare places in the fall when they die. It is, finally, to be
observed, in cutting-back, that this should not be done to a
single flower-bud, as otherwise the shoot dies off to the next
leaf-bud. Those shoots on which the dead flowers fall off
can be cut back immediately after flowering to the two
leaf -buds at the base. An observance of these directions
will make it an easy matter to prune peaches in the spring.
The pyramidal form which is to be given must, however,
always be kept in mind in determining the position of the
branches to be saved.

"THE THIRD AND FOLLOWING YEARS. — In the winter
pruning of the third and following years, the shoots of the
year before, on all fruits, are cut -back to three to four buds,
and here it is that the pyramidal form must be looked after.
All trees clothe themselves with weak bearing wood at the
base of last year's stem, and the pruning of the stem
growth must be done accordingly. If it were cut too long,
many of the buds would not grow, and bare places would
result. Too heavy pruning would cause the formation of
strong, woody shoots at the lower part of the tree. With
our seed fruit and stone fruit pyramids in pots, the branches
must not stand too thick or shade each other. At all times
light and air must reach the stem in order to benefit
the fruits. The removal of single large stems in later
years will make this possible. It may also be mentioned
here that the dry wood forming in the tree in later life
should be removed. In the third, as in" all following years,
the summer pinching-back is executed the same as in the
first year, and in the stone fruits, particularly in peaches,
provide for the fruiting wood in the coming year. Thus

382 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

we build out our pyramid in the pot, and by means of the
regular use of the stub to tie to, the lengthening shoot is
given a pleasing, erect form. The wood shoot will moderate
with increasing fruitfulness, so that in later years it will not
be necessary to cut it much, and pinching in the summer
will be sufficient."

The growing of cherry trees in pots, by Mr.
Rivers, one of the best English growers, is thus
described : *

"The method of growing cherries in Eivers' orchard-
houses is given below in detail, with plans of a house.
Most of the trees are grafted on cherry stock, except the
Duke cherries and Early Rivers and Governor Wood, which
are grafted on Mahaleb stock. They are never lifted or
replanted before potting.

"Early in autumn one and two-year-old trees are taken
up, their roots shortened so that they can be put into the
pots without breaking, and planted in eight or twelve -inch
pots. This potting must be done carefully, and the trees
must be set so deep that the big roots near the surface will
be covered with an inch of soil. Cover the bottom of the
pots with a good, thick layer of drainage. The soil used in
potting is a light, sandy loam, enriched with one -third of
well -decayed fertilizer. It is important to firm the soil well
around and among the roots. Fill it in by degrees, ' in
small quantities, and beat it down firmly all through the
pot, taking care not to injure the roots. After potting, the
trees are set in a sheltered place outdoors, the pots being
covered with leaves. If the soil is moist enough when the
trees are potted, they will not need watering.

"When spring comes the tree must be thinned out and
the pots plunged one -third of their depth in the earth.

*A. K. Anderson in "American Garden," xiii., 594.

CHERRIES IN POTS 383

The trees remain here all the summer, are watered carefully
every morning when the weather is bright and dry, and
syringed with pure water if the greenfly is troublesome.
In July, when the trees are well rooted, a top-dressing of
stable-manure and kiln-dust in equal parts is given the
trees. A few days before the top-dressing is used it is
spread out in thin layers somewhere outdoors, and soaked
several times with liquid manure. It is applied to the soil
in the pots, in layers two inches thick near the rims, but
thinner near the stems of the trees. This top-dressing
greatly improves and strengthens the trees for the coming
year.

"After growing in pots one summer, trees are fit to be
sold the following autumn or spring. From Rivers' nur-
sery three or four hundred potted cherry trees are sold
yearly, the number increasing constantly. Old cherry trees
that have been cultivated in pots for years are kept during
winter in one of the orchard -houses. When spring comes
and their buds begin to start, the pots are plunged up to
the rim in the ground in the cherry-house.

"The pyramidal form is best and most used for potted
cherry trees. Pruning is not often necessary the first year
after potting, for the strength of the tree goes to form short
fruit-branches; but after the trees are well rooted, strong
shoots are sent out in summer. Summer pruning consists
mainly in pinching back these strong shoots to six or seven
leaves each. If after this first stopping they grow out
again, they are again pinched-back. On the leading
branches, side -shoots that are not needed to fill empty
spaces or make new leaders, are stopped at the third leaf.
The sour cherries, which form young buds better on the
side-shoots, might be pruned less. Much winter pruning
is not needed for trees that have been well stopped in sum-
mer. Winter pruning must be done as soon as leaf and
bloom-buds can be distinguished. It is done upon the same
principle as outdoor pruning, but as the room in orchard-

384 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

houses is limited, all growth must soon be pruned into fruit-
branches.

"After the cherries are all gathered, the trees are plunged
outside in a sunny, sheltered place, and left there until
repotting time in October or November. Trees that have
been potted but one year seldom need larger pots at this
time, so two or three inches of the top soil in their pots is
taken out and replaced with fresh. Larger pots are given,
in after years, when these young trees become root-bound
and require them. Cherry trees ought to be repotted every
other year."

Various forms of training pot -grown goose-
berries, as grown by James Veitch & Sons,
Chelsea, England, are shown in Figs. 248, 249,
250.*

OTHER SPECIAL MODES OF TRAINING

Plants are often trained so as to allow them to
be bent to the ground in the fall, and covered for
winter protection.t J. T. Macomber describes!
the training of peach trees for this purpose, and
I insert a part of the account as an example of
this kind of training. The tree "should be planted
where it is wanted to grow, and all branches must
be cut off, leaving the central shoot, upon which
allow only one bud to grow. The tree should be
visited every week or two, and all branches that

"These cuts are used by courtesy of "The Gardeners' Chronicle,"
where they appeared in the issue of July 31, 1897.
tSee "Principles of Fruit Growing", Chap. I.
t« American Garden, "xi. 231.

248. Pyramidal gooseberry plant.

386 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OF TRAINING

have started on the new shoot should be broken
off, taking care not to injure the leaf below it.

249. Cup-shaped gooseberry. 250. Training of gooseberry.

These little branches should not be allowed to get
more than an inch or two long. The object is to
get a long, slender cane without branches. Fig.
251 shows a tree in training ; a a are the little

LAYING -DOWN TREES

387

branches near the top that should be broken off.

All those below them have been removed. About
four or five weeks before frost may
be expected, stop breaking off the
branches, so as to allow the wood
to ripen enough to stand the win-
ter. On the approach of freezing
weather, place a round block of

251. Diagram to
illustrate train-
ing of peach.

252. The tree at bearing age.

wood on the ground at the root of the tree,
and slowly bend the cane down over it and
fasten there with a hooked stick driven into the
ground. Then cover the cane with a couple of
boards nailed together to form a trough.

"When frost is out of the ground in spring,
remove the covering and straighten up the tree.

388 SOME SPECIFIC MODES OP TRAINING

After it has begun to grow, cut or rub off all the
branches and allow but one bud to grow, and treat

253. Inarched elms.

the tree just as you did the previous season. At
the end of the third season you will probably have
a cane long enough for your purpose. Now the

INARCHING 389

tree should not be lifted in the spring, but is
kept in a horizontal position and allowed to
grow at the end and form a head, which should
be trained fan- shaped and parallel with the hori-
zontal trunk (Fig. 252).

"There should be a soft pad of straw or cloth
between the tree trunk and the block. On the
approach of freezing weather, loosen the tree from
the supporting stake, and after having placed
some evergreen boughs on boards on the ground
to keep the twigs off the earth, bend the head of
the tree down side wise to the ground, weight it,
if necessary, and then cover the whole head with
boards." The trunk will be flexible enough to
allow the head to be laid down every winter.
Protect the trunk from sun-scald.

Trees and branches may be made to grow to-
gether in various fantastic ways if they are securely
bound to each other. The union takes place more
rapidly if the bark is removed from the conjoined
surface and the exposed parts of the wounds
covered with wax. This is a species of inarching.
However, simply binding together young branches
will cause them to unite, if the parts are in very
intimate contact and if they cannot move upon
each other when shaken by wind. Fig. 253 shows
an arch made by binding four elms together.

CHAPTER VII

AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING —
GENERAL SKETCH

Pruning and training the grape are perplexed
questions, even to those who have spent a life-
time in grape- growing. The perplexity arises from
several diverse sources, as the early effort to trans-
plant European methods, the fact that many
systems present almost equally good results for
particular purposes and varieties, and the failure
to comprehend the fundamental principles of the
operations.

It is sufficient condemnation of European meth-
ods, when applied in eastern America, to say that
the American grapes are distinct species from the
European grapes, and that, consequently, they are
different in habit. This fact does not appear to
have been apprehended clearly by the early Ameri-
can grape -growers, even after the native varieties
had begun to gain prominence. American viti-
culture, aside from that upon the Pacific slope,
which is concerned with the European grape, is
an industry of very recent development. It was
little more than a century ago that the first Ameri-
can variety gained favor, and so late as 1823 that

(390)

EVOLUTION OF GRAPE TRAINING

391

the first definite attempt was made in Adlum's
"Memoir on the Cultivation of the Vine in Amer-
ica/' to record the merits of native grapes for
purposes of cultivation.* Even Adlum's book
was largely given to a discussion of European
varieties and practices. In 1846 "Thomas7 Fruit
Culturist" mentioned only six "American hardy
varieties," and all of these, excepting the Catawba,
are practically not in cultivation at the present
time. The Concord appeared in 1853. American
grape training is, therefore, a very recent develop-
ment, and we are only now
outgrowing the influence
of the practices early im-
ported from Europe. The
first decided epoch in the
evolution of our grape
training was the appear-
ance of Fuller's "Grape
Culturist," in 1864; for
while the system which he
depicted, and which yet

Often bears his name, was 254. The first American

but a modification of Pictures of

Pranine

European methods, and

had been outlined by earlier American writers, it

was at that time placed clearly and cogently before

*Persons who are interested in the historical development of American
grape-growing, may consult the author's "Sketch of the Evolution of our
Native Fruits."

LT>r>. The first American pictures of grape pruning and training. 180G.

EVOLUTION OF GRAPE TRAINING 393

the public, and became an accepted practice. The
fundamental principles of pruning are alike for
both European and American grapes, but the de-
tails of pruning and training must be greatly
modified for different species. We must under-
stand at the outset that American species of
grapes demand an American system of treatment.

The earliest American pictures of grape training
of which I know are those in S. W. Johnson's
"Rural Economy," published at New Brunswick,
New Jersey, in 1806. These pictures are here re-
produced full size (Figs. 254, 255) . The successive
figures illustrate the events in the pruning. Fig. 1
shows the growth of the first year and Fig. 2 the
first pruning. Fig. 3, the second year's growth,
is pruned to the condition shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6
shows the training, the bearing canes being sup-
ported on the main stake and the growing or re-
newal canes on intermediate stakes. Figs. 7—12
show the system of renewal. To one familiar
with grape training, these various pictures sug-
gest European patterns.

John Adlum, of the District of Columbia, ap-
pears to have been the first person to systemati-
cally undertake the cultivation and amelioration
of the native grapes. His method of training, as
described in 1823, is as follows: One shoot is
allowed to grow the first year, and this is cut
back to two buds the first fall. The second year
two shoots are allowed to grow, and they are tied

394 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

to "two stakes fixed down to the side of each
plant, about five or six feet high ; " in the fall
each cane is cut back to three or four buds. In
the third spring, these two short canes are spread
apart "so as to make an angle of about forty -five
degrees with the stem," and are tied to stakes ;

256. Dufour's trellis training. 182G.

this season about two shoots are allowed to grow
from each branch, making four in all, and in the
fall the outside ones are cut back to three or four
buds, and the inner ones to two. These outside
shoots are to bear the fruit the fourth year, and
the inside ones give rise to renewal canes. These
two outer canes or branches are secured to two
stakes set about sixteen inches jipon either side
of the vine, and the shoots are tied up to the
stake as they grow. The renewal shoots from
the inside stubs are tied to a third stake set near

EARLY TYPES OF TRAINING

395

the root of the vine. The outside branches are to
be cut away entirely at the end of the fourth year.
This is an ingenious renewal post system, and it
is easy to see how the Horizontal Arm and High
Renewal systems may have sprung from it.

Dufour's sketch of training on mulberry trees, suggested
by European practice. 1826.

The next important account appears to be that
of John James Dufour, who wrote the "American
Vine -Dresser's Guide" in 1826. Dufour published
the second pictures of grape- train ing, two of which
are here reproduced (Figs. 256, 257). A part of
Dufour's sketch will interest us:

396 AMERICAN GEAPE TRAINING

" Now for bowers and espaliers or hedgerows : Any way
a vine is trained on the lattice work as to furnish regularly
the wall for an espalier, and top of a bower, answers the
purpose. But as the sap of plants, and of grape vines par-
ticularly, always tends to run upwards, it will happen that
a vine which is to give branches at different heights, the
uppermost of all will shoot overgrown branches of the
lowest part, which will be always weak; therefore, if a
high wall or a large bower in a garden is to be covered with
an espalier of vines, the wall or bower must be divided in
sections, that one vine may furnish wood enough to fill one
story in that section; say from fifteen to thirty feet long,
according to the force of the ground. The height of one
story being about three feet; a wall of eighteen feet high
and fifty feet long would offer two sections, and five
stories, also it would require ten vines to furnish it; one
per story in each section; then five vines, or as many as
there are stories must be planted before each section, not
close to the wall or bower, but four or five feet from it ; and
when the vines are strong enough to be laid as directed for
vines planted by mulberry trees, they are to be laid down
in the same way, nine or twelve inches deep, and raised
against the wall or bower, and pruned to three eyes : Vines
planted immediately where they are to grow would perhaps
do as well; but I have done myself and seen it done the
other way. It is supposed that a vine which is to nourish
more branches and more fruit than one in a vineyard, will
be stronger if it runs some space into the ground, it will
surely shoot more roots from the stock; but I think any
plant will get roots in proportion to the branches it has to
nourish : also, I do not think that it is absolutely necessary
to plant them first at a distance from a wall or a bower,
but it is surely better to do it against a tree, on account of
the roots of the tree, which keeps the ground very dry
within their reach ; it is best, however, to do it always
when it can be done most conveniently. After the vines

DUFOUR'S TRAINING 397

have acquired the proper strength, they are to be trained
along the laths, so that one vine should furnish one story
only, or that all its branches should shoot on a horizontal
line, and nowhere else. (See Fig. 256.) The vine in the
left edge of the section being brought up twelve or fifteen
inches perpendicular to the lowest lath, there it must be
bent square to the right, and tied to the lath as far as the
other edge of the section. If that do not give too great
a load to the vine, every foot along the lath, a bud must be
left to grow, and the vine is full loaded with twelve or
fifteen growing buds, so that a lath twenty-five feet long
will require two or three years to fill it, without overloading
the plant. The next vine being brought up perpendicular,
three feet higher to the second lath, and there bent and
tied along the lath about as the first one ; there may be
also twelve or fifteen buds to grow, one being left at each
foot; all the buds in that part of the vines which are per-
pendicular, must be rubbed off except one or two just under
the elbow where the lath in that section has to be filled up
with a next year's shoot, when the vine of one story has
reached the boundary of the section, there it must be
stopped. The next vine, or the third, must go up first to
the third lath, and so on until the middle of the section,
where, after having brought the vine up to its lath, it must
be then bent to the left, having there more room. To have
a perfect espalier or bower, it requires much nursing until
the wall or bower is completely filled, then you will have a
horn every foot along each lath except the top one, which
must be left naked, that you may tie to it the sprouts of
the story under it. This horn must be made anew every
year, by the pruning, as directed for the festoons between
the mulberry trees, and what grows from them must be
suckered and tied to the lath above, and may be pinched a
couple of feet higher up. What grows on the top or roof
of a bower, may be left to grow at liberty after it has been
pruned. An espalier of vines thus trained cover a wall or a

398 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

bower most beautifully, and bears abundance of grapes,
which, come to fine perfection and make a noble appearance ;
every exposure I expect would answer in this country; the
southwest is the exposure that I saw grapes come first to
maturity. There is in Swisserland such an espalier in full
perfection, thirty feet high, on the side of a large barn,
planted there by myself thirty five years since."

The sketch in Fig. 256 " shows a piece of an espalier or
hedgerow. Letter L the laths ; b the horns to be renewed
yearly; h the horizontal branches. At the lower lath as it
appears immediately after the training of it. Along the
next lath above, shows the horns made the subsequent prun-
ings." Fig. 257 "represents two mulberry trees and vines
trained from tree to tree— letter h the main horizontal
branches — L the lath — m the trees — b the horns to be
renewed every year, and what will grow from them will
often hang as shown by the branch with leaves and
fruit on."

The great diversity of opinion which exists
among the best grape - growers concerning the ad-
vantages of different systems of training is proof
that many systems have merit, and that no one
system is better than others for all purposes. The
grower must recognize the fact that the most im-
portant factor in determining the merits of any
system of training is the habit of the vine — as its
vigor, rate of growth, normal size, relative size and
abundance of leaves, and season and character of
fruit. Nearly every variety differs from others
in some particular habit, and it therefore requires
different treatment in some important detail.
Varieties may thrive equally well upon the same

NEED OF INSTRUCTION 399

general system of training, but require minor
modifications ; so it comes that no hard and fast
lines can be laid down, either for any system or
any variety. One system differs from another in
some one main principle or idea, but the modifi-
cations of all may meet and blend. If two men
practice the Kniffin system, therefore, this fact
does not indicate that they prune and train their
vines exactly alike. It is impossible to formulate
rules for grape - training ; it is, therefore, im-
portant that we understand thoroughly the phi-
losophy of pruning and training, both in general
and in the different systems which are now most
popular.

These Chapters (VII. and VIII.) on grape train-
ing are a revision of my "American Grape Train-
ing," published by the Rural Publishing Company
in 1893. The motive of the book was thus set
forth in the preface: "This little book has grown
out of an attempt to teach the principles and
methods of grape training to college students. I
have found such teaching to be exceedingly diffi-
cult and unsatisfactory. It is impossible to firmly
impress the lessons by mere lectures. The student
must apprehend the principles slowly and by his
own effort. He must have time to thoroughly
assimilate them before he attempts to apply them.
I therefore cast about for books which I could
put before my class, but I at once found that
there are very few succinct accounts of the sub-

400 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

ject of grape pruning and training, and that none
of our books portray the methods which are most
largely practised in the large grape regions of the
east. My only recourse, therefore, was to put my
own notes into shape for print, and this I have
now done. And inasmuch as all grape- growers
are students, I hope that the simple account will
find a use beyond the class-room.

"This lack of adequate accounts of grape train-
ing at first astonished me, but is not strange after
all. It must be remembered that the cultivation
of the native grape is of very recent origin.
There are many men who can remember its begin-
ning in a commercial way. It seldom occurs to
the younger generation, which is familiar with the
great vineyards in many states, that the Concord
is yet scarcely forty years old, and that all grape-
growing in eastern America is yet in an experi-
mental stage. Progress has been so rapid in
recent years that the new methods outstrip the
books. The old horizontal arm spur system,
which is still the chief method in the books, has
evolved itself into a high renewal training, which
is widely used, but which has not found its way
into the manuals. The Kniffin type has outgrown
its long period of incubation, and is now taking
an assured place in vineyard management. So
two great types, opposed in method, are now con-
tending for supremacy, and they will probably
form the basis of all future developments. This

THE CONFUSED IDEALS 401

evolution of American grape training is one of
the most unique and signal developments of our
modern horticulture, and its very recent departure
from the early doubts and trials is a fresh illus-
tration of the youth and virility of all horticul-
tural pursuits in North America.

"This development of our grape -training should
form the subject of a historical inquiry. I have
not attempted such in this little hand-book. I
have omitted all reference to the many early
methods, which were in most cases transportations
or modifications of European practices, for their
value is now chiefly historical, and their insertion
here would only confuse the reader. I have at-
tempted nothing more than a plain account of
the methods now in use ; in fact, I am aware that
I have not accomplished even this much, for there
are various methods which I have not mentioned.
But these omitted forms are mostly of local use
or adaptation, arid they are usually only modifi-
cations of the main types here explained. It is
impossible to describe all the variations in grape
training in a book of pocket size ; neither is it
necessary. Nearly every grower who has given
grape raising careful attention has introduced into
his own vineyard some modifications which he
thinks are of special value to him. There are
various curious and instructive old books to which
the reader can go if he desires to know the history
and evolution of grape training in America, He

402 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

will find that we have now passed through the
long and costly experiment with European sys-
tems ; and we have also outgrown the gross or
long -wood styles, and now prune close, with the
expectation of obtaining superior and definite re-
sults."*

PRUNING THE GRAPE

Pruning and training are terms which are
often confounded when speaking of the grape,
but they represent distinct operations. Pruning
refers to such removal of branches as shall in-
sure better and larger fruit on the remaining
portions. Training refers to the disposition of
the different parts of the vine. It is true that
different methods of training demand different
styles of pruning, but the modification in prun-
ing is only such as shall adapt it to the external

*In the original edition, all the manuscript was read by three persons
—by George C. Snow, Penn Yan, N. Y. ; William D. Barns, Middle Hope,
N. YM and L. C. Corbett, my assistant in the Cornell Experiment Station
at that time, but now professor of horticulture in West Virginia. Mr.
Snow is a grower in the lake region of Western New York, and employs
the High Renewal system; Mr. Barns is a grower in the Hudson River
Valley, and practices the Kniffin system; while Mr. Corbett has been a
student of all the systems, and has practiced two or three of them in
commercial plantations. In this revision, I have been greatly aided by
John W. Spencer, Westfield, N. Y., one of the representative grape-
growers of the famous Chautauqua district. To these persons is to be
attributed very much of any value which the book may possess.

The reader will find a good account of grape training by the late
E. G. Lodeman, in Year-Book of the Department of Agriculture for 1896.
For southern conditions he should consult Starnes' "Grape Culture,"
Bull. 28, Ga. Exp. Sta.

HOW THE FRUIT IS BORNE

403

shape and size of the vine, and does not in any
way affect the principle upon which it rests.
Pruning is a necessity, and, in essence, there is
but one method ; training is largely a conven-

258. Grape shoot.

ieuce, and there are as many modes as there
are fancies among grape -growers.

All intelligent pruning of the grape rests upon
the fact that the fruit is borne in a few clusters
near the base of the growing shoots of the season,

and which spring from wood of last

"•^veR'AfTy8

"* OF YHK

TJNIVKRSIT

404 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

It should be said here that a growing, leafy
branch of the grape vine is called a shoot; a
ripened shoot is called a cane ; a branch or trunk
two or more years old is called an arm.

A shoot, as it appears in the northern states in
June, is shown in Fig. 258. The whole shoot
has grown within a month, from a bud. As it
grew, flower clusters appeared, and these are to
bear the grapes. Flowering is now past, but the
shoot will continue to grow, perhaps, to the
length of ten or twenty feet. At picking time,
therefore, the grapes all hang near the lower end
or base of the shoots or new canes, as in Fig.
259 and Fig. 52, page 65. In Fig. 259, the old
cane was cut at A. Then a shoot started from a
bud at B and grew beyond BB, and another
shoot sprung from the uppermost bud.

Each bud on the old cane, therefore, produces
a new [cane which may bear fruit as well as
leaves. At the close of the season, this long ri-
pened shoot or cane has produced a bud every
foot or less, from which new fruit -bearing shoots
are to spring next year. But if all these buds
were allowed to remain, the vine would be over-
taxed with fruit the coming year, and the crop
would be a failure. The cane is, therefore, cut
off until it bears only as many buds as experi-
ence has taught us the vine should carry. The
cane may be cut back to five or ten buds, and
perhaps some of these buds will be removed, or

HOW THE FRUIT IS BORNE

405

"rubbed off/' next spring if the young growth
seems to be too thick, or if the plant is weak.
Each shoot will bear, on an average, two or
three clusters. Some shoots will bear no clus-

259. The bearing wood.

ters. From one to six of the old canes, each
bearing from five to ten buds, are left each
spring. The number of clusters which a vine
can carry well depends upon the variety, the age
and size of the vine, the style of the training,
and the soil and cultivation. Experience is the

406 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

only guide. A strong vine of Concord, which is
a prolific variety, trained in any of the ordinary
systems and set nine or ten feet apart each way,
will usually carry from thirty to sixty clusters.
The clusters will weigh from a fourth to a half
pound each. Twelve or fifteen pounds of mar-
ketable grapes is a fair or average crop for such
a Concord vine, and twenty -five pounds is a very
heavy crop.

The pruning of the grape vine, therefore, is
essentially a thinning process*. In the winter
pruning all the canes of the last season's growth
are cut away except two to six, which are left
to make the fruit and wood of the next year ;
and each of these remaining canes is headed -
back to three to ten buds. The number and
length of the canes which are left after the prun-
ing depend upon the style of training which is
practiced. A vine which may completely cover a
trellis in the fall will be cut back so severely that
a novice will fear that the plant is ruined. But
the operator bears in mind the fact that the grape,
unlike the apple, pear and peach, does not bear
distinct fruit -buds in the fall, but buds which
produce both fruit and wood the following season.

Let us now suppose, therefore, that we have
pruned our vine in the fall of 1891 to two canes,
each bearing ten buds (Fig. 260). We will call
these canes A and B respectively. In 1892, there-
fore, twenty shoots grew from them, and each of

HOW MANY BUDS TO LEAVE

407

these shoots or new canes branches, or produces
laterals. We will call these new canes of 1892
Al, A2, A3, Bl, B2, and so on. Each of the new
canes bears at the base about two clusters of
grapes, giving a total yield of about forty clus-
ters. These clusters stand opposite the leaves, as

BlO B9 B8 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 Bl C

/ , I J \ I

D Al A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A? A8 A9 AlO

/ /

260. Diagram to illustrate pruning.

seen in Fig. 258. In the axil of each leaf a bud
is formed which will produce a cane, and perhaps
fruit, in 1893. If each of these new canes, Al,
A2, etc., produces ten buds — which is a moderate
number — the vine would go into the winter of
1892-3 with two hundred buds for the next year's
growth and crop ; but these buds should be re-
duced to about twenty, as they were in the fall of
1891. That is, every year we go back again to
the same number of buds, and the top of the vine

408 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

gets no larger from year to year. We must,
therefore, cut back again to two canes. We cut
back each of these original canes, A and B, to
one new cane. That is, we leave only Al and
Bl, cutting off A2, A3, etc., and B2, B3, etc.
This brings the vine back to very nearly its con-
dition in the fall of 1891 ; but the new canes, Al
and Bl, which are now to become the main canes
by being bent down horizontally, were borne at
some distance — say three or four inches — from the
base of the original canes, A and B, so that the
permanent part of the vine is constantly lengthen-
ing itself. This annually lengthening portion is
called a spur. Spurs are rarely or never made in
this exact position, however, although this dia-
grammatic sketch illustrates clearly the method
of their formation. The common method of spur-
ring is that connected with the horizontal arm
system of training, in which the arms A and B
are allowed to become permanent, and the up-
right canes, Al, A2, Bl, B2, B3, etc., are cut back
to within two or three buds of these arms each
year. The cane Al, for instance, is cut back in
the fall of 1892 to two or three buds, and in 1893
two or three canes will grow from this stub. In
the fall of 1893 only one cane is left after the
pruning, and this one is cut back to two or three
buds; and so on.

Thus the spur grows higher every year, although
every effort is made to keep it short, both by re-

THE SPUR 409

ducing the number of buds to one or two and by
endeavoring to bring out a cane lower down on
the spur every few years. Fig. 261 shows a short
spur of two years' standing. The horizontal por-
tion shows the permanent arm. The first upright
part is the remains of the first -year cane, and
the upper part is the second -year cane after it
is cut back in the fall. In this
instance, the cane is cut back to
one fruiting -bud, 6, the small
buds, a a, being rubbed out.
There are serious objections to
spurs in any position. They be-
come hard and comparatively life-
less after a time ; it is often diffi-
cult to replace them by
healthy, fresh wood; and
the bearing portion of the
vine is constantly reced- """" "~ 26i. Spur,
ing from the main trunk.

The bearing wood should spring from near the
central parts of the vine, or be kept "near the
head," as the grape - growers say. In order to
do this, it is customary to allow two canes to
grow out each year back of the canes Al and Bl
(Fig. 260), or from the head of the vine; these
canes may be designated C and D.

These canes, C and D, are grown during 1892 —
when they may bear fruit like other canes — for
the sole purpose of forming the basis of the bear-

410 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

ing top in 1893, while all the old top, A and B,
with the secondary canes, Al, A2, Bl, B2, B3,
etc., is cut entirely away.

Here, then, are two distinct methods of forming
the bearing top for the succeeding year: either
from spurs, which are the remains of the previous
top ; or from renewals, which are taken each year

262. Renewal pruning.

from the old wood near the head of the vine, or
even from the ground. Renewals from the ground
are now little used, however, for the}- seldom give
a sufficient crop unless they are headed -in the first
fall and are allowed to bear the second year. It
should be borne in mind that the spur and renewal
methods refer entirely to pruning, not to training,
for either one can be used in any system of train-
ing. Spur pruning, however, is growing in dis-
favor among commercial grape -growers, and
renewal is more or less used in all systems of
training.

RENEWAL 411

Renewal pruning is illustrated in Fig. 262.
This engraving shows the head of a vine seven
years old, and on which two canes are allowed
to remain after each annual pruning. The part
extending from & to / and d is the base of the
bearing cane of 1892. In the winter of 1892-3,
this cane is cut off at d, and the new cane, e, is
left to make the bearing wood of 1893. Another
cane sprung from /, but it was too weak to leave
for fruiting. It was, therefore, cut away. The
old stub, 5, /, d, will be cut away a year hence, in
the winter of 1893-4. In the meantime, a re-
newal cane will have grown from the stub c, which
is left for that purpose, and the old cane, & d, will
be cut off just beyond it, between c and /. In
this way, the bearing wood is kept close to the
head of the vine. The wound a shows where an
old stub was cut away this winter, 1892-3, while &
shows where one was cut off the previous winter.
A scar upon the back of the head, which does not
show in the illustration, marks the spot where a
stub was cut away two years ago, in the winter
of 1890-1. This method of pruning can be kept
up almost indefinitely, and if care is exercised in
keeping the stubs short, the head will not enlarge
out of proportion to the growth of the stock or
trunk.

PRUNING YOUNG VINES.— The time required
after planting to get the vine onto the wires or
trellis varies with the strength of the vine when

412 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

set, the variety, the soil and cultivation, and the
system of training ; but, as a rule, the training
begins the second or third year, previous to which
time the vine is pruned, not trained. Two -year-
old vines are most popular for planting, although
in the strong varieties, as Concord and Niagara,
well -grown yearling vines are probably as good,
if not better. The strong -growing kinds are
commonly set from eight to ten feet apart in the
row, and the rows eight or nine feet apart. Dela-
wares and other small vines may be set closer,
although eight feet is preferable. When set, the
vine is cut back to two or three buds. During
the first year, the young canes are usually allowed
to lie upon the ground at will, as seen in Fig.
263. In the fall or winter, all the canes but one
are cut off, and this one is cut back to two or
three buds. The vine is, therefore, no larger at
the expiration of a year's growth than it was
when planted ; but in the meantime the plant has
become thoroughly established in the soil, and the
second year's growth should be strong enough to
form the basis for the permanent trunk or arm.
If, however, the second year's growth is weak, it
may be cut back as before, and the third season's
growth used for the trunk. On the other hand,
the growth of the first year is sometimes carried
onto the wires to form the permanent trunk and
arms, but it is only with extra strong vines in
good soil that this practice is admissible. From

WHEN TO PRUNE GRAPES

413

this point, the treatment of the vine is discussed
under Training (Chapter VIII.).

WHEN TO PRUNE. — Grape vines may be pruned
at any time during the winter. It is the practice

263. A newly-planted vineyard,

among most grape -growers in the North to prune
as time permits from November to late in Feb-
ruary, or even early in March. The sap flows
very freely from cuts made in spring and early
summer, causing the phenomenon known as
"bleeding," or in Europe as "weeping," and in
order to prevent this loss, pruning is stopped six

414 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

weeks or more before the time at which the buds
usually swell. It is yet a moot point if this
bleeding injures the vine, but it is a safe practice
to prune early. The vine is cut off an inch or
two beyond the last bud which it is desired to
leave, in order to^avoid injury to the bud from
the drying-out of the end of the cane.

The pruning is done with small hand pruning-
shears. The canes are often allowed to remain
tied to the wires until the pruning is accom-
plished, although it is the practice with most
growers who use the Kniffin system to cut the
strings before pruning. The removal of the
severed canes is known as "stripping." In large
vineyards, the pruner sometimes leaves the strip-
ping to boys or other cheap labor. The stripping
may be done at any time after the pruning is per-
formed, until spring. It must be done before the
growth starts on the remaining parts of the
vine, however, to avoid injury to the young buds
when tearing the vines off the trellis.

SUMMER PRUNING. — There is much discussion
as to the advisability of summer pruning. It is
essential to the understanding of the question that
the grower bear in mind that this summer prun-
ing is of two kinds — the removal or "breaking-
out" of the superfluous shoots, and heading -in
or "stopping" the main canes to keep them within
limits. The superfluous shoots are such as spring
from small, weak buds, or those which break from

SUMMER PRUNING 415

the old arms or trunk of the vine. Shoots which
start from the very base of the old cane are usu-
ally weak, and should be removed. Buds in this
position are shown at a a, in Fig. 261. The sec-
ondary or axillary branches, which often start
from the base of the season's shoots, should be
removed or broken out. These superfluous shoots
are pulled off from time to time as they appear,
or the buds may be rubbed off before the shoots
begin to grow.

The heading -in of the main canes, while desir-
able for the purpose of keeping the vine within
bounds, is apt to cause a growth of laterals which
choke up the vine, and which do not mature, and
in those styles of training in which very little
wood is allowed to grow, the practice may pre-
vent the development of a sufficient amount of
leaf surface to properly sustain the vine. Vines
are often weakened by summer pruning. These
dangers can be overcome by careful attention,
however, especially by heading-in very lightly, and
by doing it as late in the season as possible, when
new lateral growth does not start readily. The
necessity of much heading-in has been largely
obviated in late years by the adoption of high and
drooping systems of training, and by setting the
vines far apart. The strong varieties, like Con-
cord, Brighton and Niagara, should be set ten
feet apart in the row, especially if grown upon
the Kniffin system. Catawba, being a very up-

416 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

right grower, and especially well adapted to
upright training, may be set eight feet apart, and
Delaw^res are often set as close as six or eight
feet. It is doubtful, however, if any variety
should be set less than eight feet apart for trellis
culture. In Virginia and southward, where the
growth is large because of the long seasons, vines
are often set more than ten feet apart. In the
South, the rows should run north and south, that
the fruit may be shaded from midday sun. The
only summer heading -in now generally recom-
mended is the clipping of the tips when they fall
over and begin to touch the ground. This clip-
ping is often done with a sickle or sharp corn-
cutter.

MAKING THE TRELLIS

The fall or winter following the planting of the
vineyard, the trellis is begun if the upright sys-
tems are used (see Chapter VIII.) ; but this opera-
tion is usually delayed a year longer in the Kniffin
systems, and stakes are commonly used, or at
least recommended, during the second season. In
the South the trellis is made the first year. The
style of trellis will depend upon the style of train-
ing, but the main features are the same for all.

Strong posts of some durable timber, as cedar,
locust or oak, are placed at such distance apart
that two vines can be set between each two. If
the vines are set nine feet apart, the posts may be

VINEYARD POSTS

417

eighteen or twenty feet apart, and a vine will then
stand four or five feet from each post. If the
posts in the row are eighteen feet apart and the
rows eight feet apart, about three hundred and
thirty posts will be required to the acre. Except
in very hard and stony lands, the posts are driven

264. A poor way of bracing the post.

with a heavy maul, although many people prefer
to set the end posts in holes, thinking that they
endure the strain better. In all loose soils, how-
ever, posts can be made as firm by driving as by
setting with a spade. All posts should be as firm
as possible, in order to hold up the heavy loads of
vines and fruit. In setting posts on hillsides, it
is a common practice to lean them slightly uphill,
for there is always a tendency for the posts to tilt
down the slope. For the Kniffin systems, es-
pecially for the strong -growing grapes, the posts
must stand six or six and one -half feet high when

418

AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

set, but a foot less will usually be sufficient for
the upright and horizontal systems. The posts
should stand higher at first than is necessary for
the support of the wires, for they will need to be
driven down occasionally as they become loose.
The end posts of each row should be well braced,

bfe

265. Bracing the end post.

as shown in Figs. 289, 290. A style of brace
which is sometimes recommended, is to anchor the
post to a stone, as in Fig. 264, but this is imprac-
ticable. Fig. 265 illustrates the bracing of fence
posts, of which the Prairie Farmer says: "The
usual way of bracing, shown in the upper figure,
is faulty, the brace being too high up on the post
and standing too vertical. It should rest nearly
against the center of strain on the post and more
nearly in a horizontal position, as shown in the
lower figure. A wire connecting the top of the

WIRE FOR THE TRELLIS 419

second post with the bottom of the end post pre-
vents the brace from pushing it over."

It is only a question of time when iron posts
will come into general use. Second-hand steam-
pipe could no doubt be used. Iron posts are not
only more durable, but they do not harbor insects
and fungi.

The wire ordinarily used is No. 12, except for
the top wire in the Kniffin training, which is usu-
ally No. 10, as the greater part of the weight is
then upon the top wire. No. 9 is sometimes used,
but it is often heavier than necessary. No. 14 is
occasionally used for the middle and upper rows in
the upright systems, but it is not strong enough.
The following figures show the sizes and weights
of these and similar iron and steel wires:

No. Diameter in inches. Weight of 100 feet. Feet in 2,000 pounds.
9 .148 5.80 pounds. 34 483

10 .135 4.83

11 .120 3.82

12 .105 2.92

13 .092 2.24

14 .080 1.69

15 .072 1.37

16 .063 1.05

41408

118 343
145 985
190 476

The plain annealed iron wire costs about three
cents per pound, and the galvanized — which is
less used for vineyards — three and one -half cents.
Of No. 12 wire, about one hundred and sixty
pounds is required per acre for a single run on
rows eight feet apart, and about five hundred

420 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

pounds for three runs. The cost of No. 12 wire
per acre, for three runs, therefore, is about fifteen
dollars.

The wire is secured to the intermediate posts by
staples driven in firmly, so that the wire will not
pull through readily of its own weight, but still
loosely enough to allow of the tightening of the
wires. In other words, the head of the staple
should not quite touch the wire. Grape staples
are of three lengths, about an inch, inch and a-
quarter, and an inch and a-half respectively. The
shortest length is little used. The medium length
is used for hard -wood posts and the longest for
soft posts, like chestnut and cedar. These staples
cost five cents per pound, usually, and a pound of
the medium length contains from ninety to one
hundred of the No. 10 wire size. An acre, for
three wires, will therefore require, for this size,
about nine or ten pounds of staples. In windy
regions, the wires should be placed on the wind-
ward side of the posts, and on hillsides it should
be on the up-hill side.

There are several devices on the market for
stretching the wires on a trellis, such as the
"come-alongs" used by linemen and fence build-
ers. The one commonly used in the Chautauqua
district of New York is shown in Fig. 266. The
hook is secured to the post, and the wire is held
in the clamp or jaws at the opposite end. The
operator pulls the rope, and when the wire is

266. Wire stretcher.

267. Parallel wire stretcher.

W8. Paralie! wire stretcher, in operation, the s,ack being pulM
up by the strap.

269. Westfield grip.

422 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

taut, slips the rope in the catch at a. The loose
end of the wire is then secured to the post, and
the machine is removed. Other forms of "come-
alongs" are shown in Figs. 267, 268, 269.*

There are various means of securing the wires
to the end posts, but the commonest method is to
wind them about the post once and secure them
with a staple, or twist the end of the wire back
upon itself, forming a loop. The wires should be
drawn taut to prevent sagging with the weight of
fruit and leaves. In order to allow for the con-
traction of the wires in winter, some growers
loosen the wires after harvest, and others provide
some device which will relieve the strain. The
Yeomans patent grape-vine trellis is a simple
and effective lever -contrivance attached to each
wire, and which is operated to loosen the wires
in fall and to tighten them in spring. The end
post is sometimes provided upon the back with a
square -headed pin which works tightly in an inch
and a -half auger hole, and about which the end
of the wire is wound. A square -headed iron
wrench operates the pin, while the tension of the
wire around the side of the post keeps the pin
from slipping. This device is not durable, how-
ever. An ingenious man can easily contrive some
device for relieving the tension, if he should think
it necessary. As a matter of practice, however,

*Manufactured by Eureka Tempered Copper Works, North East,
Penna.

CARE OF THE TRELLIS

423

the wires soon stretch and sag enough with the
burden of fruit and vines to take up the winter
contraction, and most growers do not release the
wires in fall. It will be found necessary, in fact,
to tighten the wires and to straighten up the posts
from year to year, as they become loose. It is
always a profitable
labor to tamp the
ground firmly about
all the posts every
spring. The wires
should always be
kept tight during the
growing season, to
prevent the whipping
of the vines by the
wind. This is espe-
cially important in
white grapes, which are discolored by the rubbing
of leaves and twigs. Unless the vines are very
strong, it will be necessary to put up only one wire
the first winter.

A German knack for taking up the slack is
shown in Figs. 270 and 271. The device is made
from heavy wire, and the trellis wire is caught
up and wound about it, as seen in Fig. 271. A
notch filed in either end of the device prevents it
from slipping.

Trellises are often made of slats, as shown in
Fig. 256, but these are always less durable than

Device for taking up the
slack.

424 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

the wire trellises and more expensive to keep in
repair ; and in the older portions of the country,
where timber is dear, they are also more expen-
sive at the outset. They catch the wind, and, not
being held together by continuous strands, are
likely to blow down in sections. Fuller partic-

271. The slack gathered up.

ulars concerning the styles of trellis are given
in the discussions of the different systems of
training.

Spencer gives the following supplementary ad-
vice for the trellis and general lay-out of the
vineyard :

"The vineyardists of the Chautauqua grape belt have de-
veloped a mode of pruning and training of grapes which
has many features peculiar to that district. The trellis is
made of two wires, of No. 9 or No. 10 gauge, and chestnut
posts. The posts are from six feet to eight feet in length,
and cost one cent per lineal foot at the railroad station.
In later years, since experience has shown how important
air and sunshine are in ripening the fruit, eight-foot posts
are most commonly used. Grape posts should be somewhat

LAYING OUT THE VINEYARD 425

heavier than those commonly used for wire fence — from a
third to a half larger — and the heaviest should be sorted
out for the end posts, for these bear the strain of the wire.
An experienced farmer need not be told that they should be
sharpened with a true lead -pencil taper, excepting the
crooked ones, which should be so beveled as to counteract
the crook in driving.

"The usual distance apart for the posts in the row of
grapes is one post to every three vines, or, in other words,
twenty- seven feet, and for ease- in stretching the wire, they
should be in as straight a line as possible. The posts are
driven, but a hole should first be made by an unusually
large crowbar with a bulb near the lower end. After the
posts are stuck into the holes, they are most conveniently
driven by the operator standing in a wagon which is hauled
through the row by a horse. A fair weight of maul is
twelve pounds, and it requires a good man to swing one of
that size all day. Iron mauls are commonly used because
they are the cheapest, but one with an iron shell filled with
wood "brooms" or frays the top of the post less than the
iron maul. Eighteen inches is a fair depth to drive the
posts on most soils. If the proprietor delegates the driving
to another man, he had better direct that twenty and
twenty-two inches be the proper depth, for to the man
swinging the maul the post seems deeper than it really is.

"A vineyard should have a break or an alley at right
angles to the rows as often as every fifty grape vines, for
the purpose of dumping grape brush and shortening the
trip when hauling fauit. If the vineyard is in fair thrift,
longer rows will give so much brush as to be inconvenient
in hauling out.

" The end posts should not only be the largest of the lot,
but should also be well braced. The most common mode is
the "hypotenuse brace," consisting of a stiff rail or a four-
by-four scantling twelve feet long, with one end notched
into the post about midway between the two wires, and the

426 AMERICAN GEAPE TRAINING

other end resting on the ground against a two -foot peg of
about the same size as the end post.

"The wires (two wires in the Chautauqua trellis) should
be strung on the windward side of the post ; that is, on the
side from which the prevailing winds come. This is very
important when the wind is blowing at thirty to forty miles
an hour, and the vines have sails of many square feet of
foliage, and perhaps three and four tons of fruit per acre.
The staples should be of the same gauge of wire as that
used in barbed wire fences, but about one-half inch longer,
unless the grape posts should be of hard wood like locust,
then fence staples will be long enough. The bottom trellis
wire is usually placed from twenty -eight to thirty -two
inches from the ground. Owing to the arm system of
pruning in the Chautauqua grape belt, the height of the
lower, trellis wire is permanent. The upper trellis wire is,
in many instances, raised as the vineyard comes to ma-
turity. The first year of fruiting, it may not be more than
twenty-four inches above the lower wire, and year by year
be raised to thirty and thirty-two inches. It is not ad-
visable to go more than thirty -six inches apart without
putting in a middle or third wire. Each spring many of the
posts will sag, and the upper wire will be slack, and many
of the braces will be out of place. All of these faults
should be corrected just before tying up the canes."

TYING

Probably the best material for tying the canes
and shoots to the trellis is raffia. This is a bast-
like material which comes in skeins, and which can
be bought of seedsmen and nurserymen for about
twenty cents a pound. A pound will suffice to tie
a quarter of an acre of upright training through-
out the season. Raffia is obtained from the strip-

TYING THE VINES 427

pings of an oriental palm (RapMa Ruffia). Wool-
twine is also still largely used for tying, but it is
not so cheap and handy as raffia, and it usually
has to be cut when the trellis is stripped at the
winter pruning, while the raffia breaks with a
quick pull of the vine. Some complain that the
raffia is not strong enough to hold the vine during
the season, but it can easily be doubled. Osier
willows are much used for tying up the old canes
in the spring, and also for summer tying, espe-
cially in the nursery regions where the slender
trimmings of the cultivated osier willows are easily
procured. Wild willows are often used if they
can be obtained easily. These willows are tied
up in a small bundle, which is held upon the back
above the hips by a cord passed about the body.
The butts project under the right hand, if the
person is right-handed, and the strands are pulled
out as needed. The butt is first used, the tie be-
ing made with a twist and tuck, the strand is then
cut off with a knife, and the twig is employed in
like manner until it is used up. When wool- twine
is used, the ball is often held in front of the work-
man by a cord which is tied about it and then
passed about the waist. The ball is unwound from
the inside, and it will hold its shape until the end
becomes so short that it will easily drag upon the
ground. Some workmen carry the ball in a bag,
after the manner of carrying seed -corn. Raffia is
not so easily carried in the field as the wool -twine

428 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

or the willow, and this fact interferes with its
popularity. Green rye straw, cut directly from
the field, is much used for tying the shoots in
summer. Small wire, about two -thirds the size
of broom -wire, is used occasionally for tying up
the canes in spring, but it must be used with care
or it will injure the vine. Corn -husks are also
employed for this purpose when they can be se-
cured. Bass -bark is sometimes used for tying,
but in most of the grape regions it is difficult to
secure, and it has no advantage over raffia.

It is very important that the old -canes be tied
up early in spring, for the buds are easily broken
after they begin to swell. These canes are tied
rather firmly to the wires to hold them steady ;
but the growing shoots, which are tied during the
summer, are fastened more loosely, to allow of the
necessary increase in diameter.

Further advice on tying is given by Spencer:

"Tying is done by women, boys and girls and cheap
men. The tying materials are wire, wool-twine, raffia,
willow and carpet-rags. By turning to Fig. 278, it will be
seen how the canes are arrayed on the two trellises after the
Chautauqua method. The horizontal arms, at the lower
wire, are more or less permanent, and they are loosely
confined to the wire, always by string or willow. The
vertical canes, which are fastened to the top trellis, are now
universally tied with annealed wire of No. 18 gauge, and cut
in lengths of four inches. The economy in using the wire
is the despatch in tying, and the fact that the work can be
done on cool days when light gloves are necessary. The

272. Tying with wire. The first
movement.

273. The second movement.

274. The third movement.

275. The tie complete.

430 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING

use of wire has been strenuously opposed by people who
have never used it. The objection has been that the fine
wire would chafe the cane so that the cane would break and
fall from the trellis. Such instances occur rarely, and
when they do, it is so late in the season that the tendrils of
the vine are ample to hold it to the trellis. The cane
should be tied to the windward side of the wire for the
same reason that the wire was stapled on the windward side
of the post. In using the wire tie, the operator stands on
the opposite side of the trellis from the cane, and follows
the movements as illustrated in Figs. 272-275. This opera-
tion puts on the wire with the fewest number of move-
ments, binds the cane snug to the trellis, and makes a loop
that falls from the trellis on the following season, when the
cane is torn away. The tying wire should be thoroughly
annealed, so that it can be easily bent and give no springy
reaction after being worked. This wire is also useful in
tying thorny shrubs to a trellis when a mittened hand is
necessary to hold the branches in place while the other
hand makes the tie."

CHAPTER VIII

AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CON-
CLUDED—THE VARIOUS MODES

The grape is trained for the purpose of keeping
the vine in convenient shape and to allow each
cluster to receive its full share of space and
light. A well trained vine is easily cultivated and
sprayed, and the grapes are readily harvested, and
it is only upon such vines that the best and fairest
fruit is uniformly produced. Some kind of train-
ing is essential, for a vine will not often bear good
fruit when it lies upon the ground. Grape train-
ing is described by one vineyardist as a process
of hanging the vine up for air and sunshine, and
he thinks that different ways of accomplishing that
object may be equally good. He likens it to the
hanging -out of a washing. He says that his
mother and his wife each has her particular way
of putting a washing on the line, and each is
punctilious that her favorite method shall be ob-
served. He says that he speaks from experience,
for he has been bossed by both.

In essence, there are three general types or
styles of training, which may be denominated
the upright, drooping, and horizontal, these terms

(431)

432 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

designating the direction of the bearing shoots.*
The upright systems carry two or more canes or
arms along a low horizontal wire, or sometimes
obliquely across a trellis from below upwards, and
the shoots are tied up, as they grow, to t'he wires
above. The horizontal systems carry up a per-
pendicular cane or arm, or sometimes two or
more, from which the shoots are carried out hori-
zontally, and are tied to perpendicular wires or
posts. The drooping systems, represented in the
Kniffin and post -training, carry the canes or arms
up on a high horizontal wire or trellis, and allow
the shoots to hang without tying. To one or
another of these types all the systems of American
grape training can be referred.

There is no system of training which is best for
all purposes and all varieties. The strong -grow-
ing varieties more readily adapt themselves to the
high, drooping systems than the weaker varieties,
although the Delaware is often trained on a com-
paratively low Kniffin with good effect. The high
or drooping systems are of comparatively recent
origin, and their particular advantages are the sav-
ing of labor in summer tying, cheapness of the
trellis, and the facility with which the ground can
be cultivated without endangering the branches of
the vine. The upright training distributes the
bearing wood more evenly upon the vine, and is

* Classification first made in the original edition of "American Grape
Training."

THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS 433

thought, therefore, to insure more uniform fruit ;
it keeps the top near the root, which is sometimes
thought to be an advantage, and it is better suited
to the stature of the small -growing varieties.
There is, perhaps, a greater temptation to neglect
the vines in the drooping systems than in the
others, because the shoots need no tying, and do
not, therefore, demand frequent attention, whereas
in the upright systems the shoots soon become
broken or displaced if not watched. For very
large areas, or circumstances in which the best of
care cannot be given the vineyard, the Kniffin or
drooping systems are perhaps always to be recom-
mended. Yet the Kniffin profits as much from
diligence and skill as the other systems ; but it
will give better results than the others under
partial neglect. The strong varieties, especially
those making long and drooping canes, are well
adapted to the Kniffin styles ; but the smaller
sorts, and those stronger kinds which, like Ca-
tawba, make an upright and stocky growth, are
usually trained on the upright systems. But the
merits of both systems are so various and even so
little understood, that it is impossible to recom-
mend either one unqualifiedly. The advantages
in either case are often little more than matters
of personal opinion. It should be said, however,
that the Kniffin or drooping systems are gaining
in favor rapidly, and are evidently destined to
overthrow much of the older upright training.

434 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

This fact does not indicate, however, that the
upright system is to be entirely superseded, but
rather that it must be confined to those varieties
and conditions for which it is best adapted. The
two systems will undoubtedly supplement each
other. The horizontal systems are occasionally
used for choice varieties, but they are little
known.

To Mr. Spencer, who has observed many modes
of training, the subject appeals as follows : " The
fundamental idea of grape pruning is to find the
proper balance between the energy which the vine
has and the labor that it is expected to perform.
What we treat as training is nothing more or less
than spreading the vines to light and air, and
there are many ways of doing it. Many of them
are good, and some better for some varieties of
grapes and for certain locations. As a rule, the
difference in results of different methods of train-
ing is not worth the contention that it has pro-
voked. The great point is to determine what
the plant is capable of doing, and then to cut
and train the top to correspond. Select any
system of training which you fancy or with which
your help is the most familiar, anu then leave
your wood in the form most convenient for that
system."

Spencer gives the following notes on general
methods of grape pruning in the Chautauqua
vineyards:

PRUNING IN CHAUTAUQUA 435

"A large part of the pruning is done in the winter months
— some beginning in the fall soon after the crop is har-
vested. Two grades of labor can be employed in this opera-
tion—the skilled and the unskilled. The man of skill, or the
expert, goes ahead and blocks out. He stands in front of a
vine of far more tangled brush than that seen in Fig. 282,
and, at a glance, tells by a judgment ripened by much ob-
servation, just how many buds are required to ballast and
not over-ballast the vine for another year. As the expert
stands before the vine making the estimate, he might be
likened to a man weighing a ham with steelyards, pushing
the weight backward and forward, notch by notch, finding
the point of balance. The expert, with his pruning shears,
makes a dive here and a lunge there, a clip at the bottom
and a snip at the top, and with a few more seemingly wild
passes, all wood is severed from the bearing vine, but the
number of buds desired to give fruit another year are left.
The unskilled help, who receives possibly a dollar a day
less than the expert, follows the expert, cutting the tendrils
and other parts of the vine that are attached to anything
but the trellis. The next process is ' stripping' the brush,
and it is one involving brute force, ragged clothes and
leather mittens. If the laborer does not put on a ragged
suit, he will be apt to have one before he is done with his
job. There is a little knack even in doing this work to the
best advantage. The dismembered vines still hang to the
upper trellis and often cling with considerable tenacity,
and a particular jerk or yank, more easily demonstrated
than described, is most effectual to land the brush on the
ground between the rows. -

"The next operation is to haul the brush out to the end
of the row. Many tools have been devised for this purpose,
some of them involving considerable expense. It is now
the universal practice to use a simple pole— one a little
larger than would be used to bind a load of logs, and not
so large as required in binding a load of hay. It may be a

436 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

sapling about four inches at the butt and two and one -half
inches at the top, and ten to twelve feet long. The small
end is to be held in the right hand, and the butt end to be
pushed along the ground. A horse is hitched to this pole
by a rope drawn through an inch hole about four feet from
the butt or ground end. When starting at the end of the
row, it seems that the straight pole would not gather any
brush at all. It is a question of catching the first wad, and
all the rest of the brush will cling to it. At the end of the
row, the brush is hauled to a convenient pile, where it is to
be burned, and is dumped by letting the end of the pole
held in the hand revolve over towards the horse. If the
pole hits the horse, the operator will see that there is not
enough stretch of rope between the pole and whiffletree,
and more must be provided."

The cost of pruning an acre of grapes is re-
ported as follows:*

Blocking out . ."".$1.00

Cutting curls . . .... . . . 1.50

Stripping, removing brush, tapping
posts, stretching wire . . . . 1.50

Labor of tying 1.50

Cost of ties . . . • .25

$575

THE UPRIGHT SYSTEMS

The upright systems are the oldest and best
known of the styles of American grape training.
They consist, essentially, in carrying out two hori-
zontal canes, or sometimes arms, upon a low wire,

"John W. Spencer, Proc. W. New York Hort. Soc., 1896, p. 44.

HORIZONTAL ARM 437

and training the shoots from them vertically.
These shoots are tied to the upper wires as they
grow. This type was first clearly and forcibly
described in detail by A. S. Fuller, in his "Grape
Culturist," in 1864, and it became known as the
Fuller system, although it was practiced many
years previous to this time.

HORIZONTAL ARM SPUR SYSTEM.— There are two
types, or styles, of this upright system. The older
type and the one described in the books, is known
as the Horizontal Arm Spur training. In this
method, the two horizontal branches are perma-
nent, or, in other words, they are true arms. The
canes are cut back each fall to upright spurs on
these arms, as explained on page 409 (Fig. 261).
Two shoots are often allowed to grow from each
of these spurs, as shown in Fig. 276. These
spurs become overgrown and weak after a few
years, and they are renewed from new shoots
which spring from near their base or from the arm
itself. Sometimes the whole arm is renewed from
the head of the vine, or even from the ground.

The number of these upright canes and their
distance apart upon these permanent arms depend
upon the variety, the strength of the vine and
soil, and the fancy of the grower. From twelve
to twenty inches apart upon the arm is the com-
mon distance. If a vine is strong enough to carry
five canes and the vines are eight feet apart, then
the canes are distributed at intervals of about

438 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

twenty inches. Some very strong vines of vig-
orous varieties will carry eight canes upon the two

;/,* v*v*

27G. Horizontal arm spur training.

arms together, and in this case the canes stand
about a foot apart. In the fall or winter, the
cane is cut away and the strongest new cane
which springs from its base is left for the bearing
wood of the following year. This new cane is
itself headed -in to the height of the trellis ; that
is, if the uppermost and lowermost wires are
thirty -four inches apart — as they are in the Broc-
ton vineyards of Western New York, where a
modification of this system is largely used — this
new cane is shortened -in to about thirty -six inches
long. On this length of cane there will be about
seven good buds in the common varieties.
A modification of this horizontal arm system is

HORIZONTAL ARM

439

shown in Fig. 278. It is used in the vineyards
of Chautauqua county, New York. The arms in
this case are very short, and canes are taken out
only at two or three places. The picture shows a
vine in which two or three canes are taken from

277. Horizontal arm. (Diagram.)

the end of each arm, making five canes for the
bearing top of the vine. These canes are cut back
to spurs in the fall, as explained in the above
paragraph. Sometimes one or two other canes are
taken out of these arms nearer the main trunk.
One is taken out in Fig. 278. The advantages
urged for this style of training are the stronger
growth which is insured by so few canes, and the

440 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

small amount of old or permanent wood which is
left to each vine.

The true horizontal arm training is less popular
than it was twenty years ago. It has serious
faults, especially in the persistence of the old

278. Chautauqua or Brocton training.

spurs, and probably will eventually give place
to other systems. Aside from the spur-pruning,
the system is much like the following, which is
a modification to allow of renewal, and to which
the reader is referred for further details. This
modification, which may be called the High Re-
newal,* and which is one of the most serviceable

Term first used in the original edition of " American Grape Train-
ing," 1893.

HIGH RENEWAL TRAINING 441

of any of the styles of training, although it has
never been fully described, we shall now consider.
THE HIGH RENEWAL.— This is an upright train-
ing which is now very extensively employed in the
lake regions of New York and elsewhere. It
starts the head or branches of the vine from
eighteen to thirty inches from the ground. The
ideal height for most varieties is probably about

r(<W

279. The second season of upright training.

two feet to the first wire, although thirty inches
is better than eighteen. If the vines are lower
than two feet, they are liable to be injured by the
plow or cultivator, the earth is dashed against the
clusters by heavy rains, and if the shoots become
loose they strike the ground and the grapes are
soon soiled. A single trunk or arm is carried up
to the required height, or if good branches hap-
pen to form lower down, two main canes are car-
ried from this point up to the required distance to
meet the lower wire, so that the trunk becomes Y-
shaped, as seen in Figs. 279, 281, 285. In fact,

OF THF

442 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

vineyardists usually prefer to have this head or
crotch a few inches below the lowest wire, to
facilitate the spreading and placing of the canes.
The trellis for the upright systems nearly always
comprises three wires, although only two are some-
times used for the smaller -growing varieties, and

very rarely
four are
used for

the strongest kinds, although
this number is unnecessary.
The lowest wire is stretched at
eighteen, twenty -four or thirty
inches from the ground, and
the two upper ones are placed
at distances of eighteen or
twenty inches apart.

The second season after plant-
ing should see the vine tied to
the first wire. Fig. 279 is a
photograph taken in July, 1892,
of a Concord vine which was
set in the spring of 1891. In
,the fall of 1891, the vine was
cut back to three or four buds,
and in the spring of 1892, two
of these buds were allowed to
make canes. These two canes are now tied to
the wire, which was stretched in the spring of
1892. In this case, the branches start near the

280. Making the
T-head.

HIGH RENEWAL 443

surface of the ground. Sometimes only a single
strong shoot grows, and in order to secure the
two branches it is broken over where it passes
the wire, and is usually tied to a stake to afford
support. Fig. 280 shows this operation. A bud
will develop at the bend or break, from which

281. The third season of high renewal. Concord.

a cane can be trained in the opposite direction
from the original portion, and the T-head is
secured.

The close of the second season after planting,
therefore, will usually find the vine with two good
canes extending in opposite directions, and tied
to the wire. The pruning at that time will con-
sist in cutting off the ends of these canes back to
firm and strong wood, which will leave them bear-
ing from five to eight buds. The third season,
shoots will grow upright from these buds and will
be tied to the second wire, which has now been
supplied. Late in the third season the vine
should have much the appearance of that shown

444 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

in Fig. 281. The third wire is usually added to
the trellis at the close of the second season, at
the same time that the second wire is put on ; but
occasionally this is delayed until the close of the
third season. Some of the upright shoots may
bear a few grapes this third season, but unless
the vines are very strong, the flower clusters
should be removed ; and a three -year -old vine
should never be allowed to bear heavily. It must
be remembered, however, that both these hori-
zontal canes, with all their mass of herbage, are
to be cut away in the fall or winter of the third
year. Some provision must have been made,
therefore, for the top for the fourth year. It will
be recalled that in discussing the renewal pruning
(page 411, Fig. 262) , it was found that two or more
shoots are allowed to grow each year to form the
basis of the top the following year. In Fig. 281
three or four such shoots can be seen springing
from the Y-shaped portion in the center of the
vine. These shoots or canes are to be bent
down to the lowest wire next spring, and the
bearing shoots will arise from them. This pro-
cess will be seen at a glance from Figs. 282, 283
and 284. The first shows a full-grown old vine,
trained on three wires. Fig. 283 shows the same
vine when pruned. Two long canes, with six or
eight buds each, are left to form the top of the
following year. The two stubs from which the
renewal canes are to grow for the second year's

446 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

top, are seen in the center. In the fall of the
next year, therefore, these two outside canes will
be cut away to the base of these renewal stubs ;
and the renewal canes, in the meantime, will have

283, High renewal, pruned,

made a year's growth. These renewal stubs in
this picture are really spurs, as will be seen ; that
is, they contain two ages of wood. It is the pur-
pose, however, to remove these stubs or spurs
every two or three years at most, and to bring
new canes directly from the old wood or head.

448 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

If possible, the renewal cane is brought from a
new place on the old wood every year, in order to
avoid a spur. Such was the case in the vine
shown in Fig. 262, page 410. Fig. 284 shows
the vine tied down to the lowest wire. Two
ties have been made upon each cane. Fig. 285
shows a vine in which four canes have been left
to form the top for the following year. The stubs
for the renewals can be seen in the Y. It is
customary to leave more than two canes, occasion-
ally, in strong -growing varieties like Concord.
Sometimes four, and occasionally six are left. If
four canes are left, two may be tied together in
each direction on the bottom wire. If six are
used, the two extra ones should be tied along the
second wire, parallel with the lowest ones. These
extra canes are sometimes tied obliquely across
the trellis, but this practice should be discouraged,
for the usual tendency of the vine is to make its
greatest growth at the top, and the lower buds
may fail to bear.

The ideal length of the two canes varies with
different varieties and the distance apart at which
the vines are set. Very strong kinds, like Con-
cord and Niagara, can carry ten or twelve buds on
each cane, especially if the vines are set more than
eight feet apart. Fig. 286 shows half of a Con-
cord vine in which about ten buds were left on
each cane. These strong sorts can often carry
forty or fifty buds to the vine to advantage, but

HIGH RENEWAL 449

when this number is left the canes should be four,
as explained in the last paragraph. In Delaware
and other weak -growing varieties, twenty or
twenty -five buds to the vine should be the maxi-
mum and only two canes should be left. In short-
jointed varieties, the canes are usually cut to the
desired length — four to six feet — even if too great
a number of buds is left, but the shoots which
spring from these extra buds are broken out soon
after they start. A Delaware vine which has made
an unusually short or weak growth will require
fewer buds to be left for next year's top than a
neighboring vine of the same variety which has
made a strong growth. The Catawba, which is a
short but very stiff grower, is usually cut back
to six or eight buds, as seen in Figs. 282, 283,
284. Fig. 287 is a good Catawba vine four years
set.

The grower soon learns to adjust the pruning to
the character of the vine, without effort. He has
in his mind a certain ideal crop of grapes, per-
haps about so many bunches, and he leaves enough
buds to produce this amount, allowing, perhaps,
ten per cent of the buds for accidents and barren
shoots. He knows, too, that the canes should
always be cut back to firm, well -ripened wood.
It should be said that mere size of cane does not
indicate its value as a fruit -bearing branch.
Hard, smooth wood of medium size usually gives
better results than the very large and softer canes
cc

450 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

which are sometimes produced on soils rich in
nitrogenous manures. This large and overgrown
wood is known as a "bull cane." A cane does
not attain its full growth the first year, but will
increase in diameter during the second season.
The tying, therefore, should be sufficiently loose

285. High renewal with four canes.

or elastic to allow of growth, although it should
be firm enough to hold the cane constantly in
place. The cane should not be hung from the
wire, but tied close to it, provision being made
for the swelling of the wood to twice its diameter.

The shoots are tied to the second wire soon after
they pass it, or have attained firmness enough to
allow of tying, and the same shoots are tied again
to the top wire. All the shoots do not grow with
equal rapidity, and the vineyard must be gone
over more than twice if the shoots are kept prop-

HIGH RENEWAL 451

erly tied. Perhaps four times over the vineyard
will be all that is necessary for careful summer
tying. Many vineyardists tie only once or twice,
but this neglect should be discouraged. This
tying is mostly done with green rye straw or raffia.
A piece of straw about ten inches long is used
for each tie, it usually being wrapped but once
about the shoot. The knot is made with a twist

286. High renewal complete. Concord.

and tuck. If raffia is used, a common string-
knot is made. When the shoots reach the top of
the trellis, they are usually allowed to take care
of themselves. The Catawba shoots stand nearly
erect above the top wire, and ordinarily need no
attention. The long -growing varieties will be
likely to drag the shoots on the ground before
the close of the season. If these tips interfere
with the cultivation, they may be clipped off with
a sickle or corn -cutter, although this practice
should be delayed as long as possible to prevent
the growth of laterals (see page 415). It is prob-

452 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

ably better to avoid cutting entirely. Some
growers wind or tie the longest shoots on the top
wire, as seen in Fig. 289. It is probably best, as a
rule, to allow the shoots to hang over naturally,
and to clip them only when they seriously inter-
fere with the work of the hoe and cultivator. The

287. High renewal in fourth year, with Catawba.

treatment for slat trellises is essentially the same
as on wire trellises, except that longer strings
must be used in tying.

It is apparent that nearly or quite all the fruit
in the High Renewal is borne between the first
and second wires, at the bottom of the trellis. If
the lower wire is twenty -four or thirty inches
high, this fruit will hang at the most convenient
height for picking. The fruit trays are set upon

HIGH RENEWAL 453

the ground, and both hands are free. The fruit is
also protected from the hot suns and from frost ;
and if the shoots are properly tied, the clusters
are not shaken roughly by the wind. It is, of
course, desirable that all the clusters should be
fully exposed to light and air, and all superfluous
shoots should, therefore, be pulled off, as already
explained (page 415) . In rare cases it may also be
necessary, for this purpose, to prune the canes
which droop over from the top of the trellis.

After a few years, the old top or head of the
vine becomes more or less weak, and it should be
renewed from the root. The thrifty vineyardist
anticipates this circumstance, and now and then
allows a strong shoot which may spring from the
ground to remain. This shoot is treated very
much like a young vine, and the head is formed
during the second year (page 408). If it should
make a strong growth during the first year, and
develop stout laterals, it may be cut back only
to the lowest wire the first fall ; but in other
cases, it should be cut back to two or three buds,
from one of which a strong and permanent shoot
is taken the second year. When this new top
comes into bearing, the old trunk is cut off at the
surface of the ground, or below, if possible. A
top will retain its vigor for six or eight years
under ordinary treatment, and sometimes much
longer. These tops are renewed from time to time
as occasion permits or demands, and any vineyard

454 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

which has been bearing a number of years will
nearly always have a few vines in process of re-
newal. The reader shonld not receive the impres-
sion, however, that the life or vitality of a vine is
necessarily limited. Vines often continue to bear
for twenty years or more without 'renewal ; but
the head after a time comes to be large and rough

288. A Concord vine thirty years old.

and crooked, and often weakened by scars, and
better results are likely to be obtained if a new,
clean vine takes its place. Fig. 288 shows the
great stump of a Concord vine thirty years old,
and which is still in thrifty bearing condition.

The High Renewal is extensively used in the
lake region of Western New York for all varie-
ties. It is particularly well adapted to Delaware,
Catawba, and other weak or short varieties.

FAN SYSTEM OF TRAINING

455

When systematically pursued, it gives fruit of
the highest excellence. This High Renewal train-
ing, like all the low upright systems, allows the

289. Fan-trained Concord.

vines to be laid down easily in winter, which is an
important consideration in many parts of Canada
and in the colder Northern states. It is often
called, but erroneously, the horizontal arm sys-
tem.

FAN -TRAINING. — A system much used a few
years ago, and still sometimes seen, is one which
renews back nearly to the ground each year, and
carries the fruiting canes up in a fan -shaped
manner. This system has the advantages of dis-
pensing with much of the old wood, or trunk, and

456 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

facilitating laying down the vine in winter in
cold climates. On the other hand, it has the dis-
advantages of bearing the fruit too low — unless
the lower clusters are removed — and making a
vine of inconvenient shape for tying. It is little
used at present. Fig. 289 shows a fan -trained

290. The vine pruned.

vine_ before pruning. Fig. 290 is the same vine
pruned, although it is by no means an ideal plant.
This vine has not been properly renewed, but bears
long, crooked spurs, from which the canes arise.
One of these spurs is seen to extend beyond the
lower wire. The spurs should be kept very short,
and they should be entirely removed every two

FAN -TRAINING 457

or three years, as explained in the above discus-
sion of the High Renewal training.

The shoots are allowed to take their natural
course, Jbeing tied to any wire near which they
chance to grow, finally lopping over the top wire.
Sometimes the canes are bent down and tied
horizontally to the wires, and this is probably

291. Marvin's fan-training.

the better practice. Two canes may be tied in
each direction on the lower wire, or the two in-
ner canes may be tied down to the second wire.
In either case, the vine is essentially like the
High Renewal, except that the trunk is shorter.

Another form of fan -training, which is a modi-
fication of the Kelly's Island System, is shown in
Fig. 291, and is thus described:* "The engrav-
ing represents a sample vine ten years old pruned.

*D. S. Marvin, Fop. Gard. iii. 140.

458 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

It will be observed that the right-hand cane is
two -thirds of it old wood, to be all cut away at
the next pruning. The old canes that bore a
heavy crop of fruit have been pruned away, all
but the stumps of the right-hand cane. Three or
more buds at the end of the cane, as the vine may
be strong or weak, are to be left to bear fruit, the
others to be rubbed off, except enough to form
new canes near the ground, to renew next year's
bearing canes. * * * The original Kelly's
Island System was one long cane or arm, with
spurs for next year's canes at the surface of the
soil, but it was found objectionable because it is
always difficult to get the fruit -spurs to grow
uniform upon long canes, the first and the last
canes growing too strong at the expense of the
center canes."

A mongrel mode of training is reported in
Fig. 292. The diagram is described* as "a well-
managed six -year -old vine ; heavier parts show
old wood ; light parts, this year's wood." It is
seen to be a combination of High Renewal (re-
newal cane at A), horizontal arm and fan-
training.

THE DROOPING SYSTEMS

In 1845 William T. Cornell planted a vine-
yard in the Hudson River Valley. A neighbor,

*By "a well-known horticulturist" in Pop. Gartl. iii. 278.

HISTORY OF KNIFF1N TRAINING

459

William Kniffin, was a stone mason with a few
acres of land to which he devoted his attention
during the leisure seasons of his trade. Cornell
induced Kniffin to plant a few grapes. He
planted the Isabella, and succeeding beyond his
expectations, the plantation was increased into a
respectable vineyard, and Kniffin came to be re-
garded as a local authority upon grape culture.

292. A mixed mode.

Those were the pioneer days in commercial grape
growing in North America, and there were no
undisputed maxims of cultivation and training.
If any system of close training and pruning was
employed, it was probably the old horizontal arm
spur system, or something like it. One day a
large limb broke from an apple-tree and fell on
a grape-vine, tearing off some of the canes and
crushing the vine into a singular shape. The
vine was thought to be ruined, but it was left

460 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

until the fruit could be gathered. But as the
fruit matured, its large size and handsome ap-
pearance attracted attention. It was the best
fruit in the vineyard! Mr. Kniffin was an obser-
vant man, and he inquired into the cause of the
excellent fruit. He noticed that the vine had
been pruned, and that the best canes stood out
horizontally. From this suggestion he developed
the four -cane system of training which now bears
his name. A year or two later, in 1854, the
system had attracted the attention of those of
his neighbors who cultivated grapes, and there-
after it spread throughout the Hudson Valley,
where it is to-day, with various modifications,
the chief method of grape training. Its merits
have become known beyond its original valley,
and it is now spreading more rapidly than any
other system. The ground upon which the old
Isabellas grew is now occupied by Concords,
which are as vigorous and productive as those
grown upon newer soils. William Kniffin died
at his home in Clintondale, Ulster county, New
York, June 13, 1876, at fifty -seven years of age.

THE TRUE OR FOUR -CANE KNIFFIN SYSTEM.—

The true Kniffin system, very nearly as practiced
by its originator, is shown in Fig. 293. A single
stem or trunk is carried directly to the top wire,
and two canes are taken out from side spurs at
each wire. Mr. Kniffin believed in short canes,
and cut them back to about six buds on both

462 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

wires. But most growers now prefer to leave the
upper canes longer than the lower ones, as seen

in illustration. The
bearing shoots are al-
lowed to hang at will,
so that no summer
tying is necessary ; this
is the distinguishing
mark of the various
Kniffin systems. The
main trunk is tied to
each wire, and the
canes are tied to the
wires in spring. This
system possesses the
great advantage, there-
fore, of requiring little
labor during the busy
days of the growing
season ; and the vines
are easily cultivated,
and if the rows are
nine or ten feet apart,
currants or other bush-
fruits can be grown be-
tween. The system is

294. NO. 293 when pruned. especially adapted to

the strong varieties of

grapes, particularly to those which are most droop-
ing. For further comparisons of the merits of

KNIFFIN PRUNING 463

different systems of training, the reader should
consult pages 432 to 434.

The pruning of the Kniffin vine consists in
cutting off all the wood except a single cane from
each spur. Fig. 294 illustrates the process. This
is the same vine which is shown with the full
amount of wood on in Fig. 293. The drooping
shoots shown in that illustration bore the grapes
of 1892 ; and now, in the winter of 1892-3, they
are all to be cut away, with the horizontal old
canes from which they grew, except only the four
canes which hang nearest the main trunk. Fig.
294 shows the vine after it had been pruned.
It is not obligatory that the canes which are left
after the pruning should be those nearest the
trunk, for it may happen that these may be
weak; but, other things being equal, these canes
are preferable because their selection keeps the
old spurs short. The careful grower will take
pains to remove the weak shoots which start
from this point, in order that a strong cane may
be obtained. It is desirable that these side spurs
be removed entirely every three or four years, a
new cane being brought out again from the main
body or trunk. There is little expectation, how-
ever, that there shall be such a complete renewal
pruning as that practiced in the High Renewal,
which we discussed in the preceding pages.

It will be seen that the drooping canes in Fig.
294 are shorter than they were originally, as

464 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

shown in Fig. 293. They have been cut back.
The length at which these canes shall be left is
a moot point. Much depends on the variety,
the distance between the wires, the strength of
the soil, and other factors. Nearly all growers
now agree that the upper canes should be longer
than the lower ones, although equal canes are
still used in some places. In strong varieties,
like Worden, each of the upper canes may bear
ten buds and each of the lower ones five. This
gives thirty buds to the vine. Some growers pre-
fer to leave twelve buds above, and only four
below.

These four pruned canes are generally allowed
to hang during winter, but are tied onto the wires
before the buds swell in spring. They are
stretched out horizontally and secured to the
wire by one or two ties on each cane The
shoots which spring from these horizontal canes
stand upright or oblique at first, but they soon
fall over with the weight of foliage and fruit. If
they touch the ground, the ends may be clipped
with a sickle, corn -cutter or scythe, although
this is not always done, and is not necessary un-
less the canes interfere with cultivation. There
is no summer pinching or pruning, although the
superfluous shoots should be broken out, as in
other systems. It is imperative, for best results,
that the shoots do not grow out horizontally on
the wires. They should be torn off the wires once

KNIFFIN TRAINING 465

or twice during the summer, so that they will
hang free.

Only two wires are used in the true Kniffin
trellis. The end posts are usually set in holes,
rather than driven, to render them solid, and they
should always be well braced. The intermediate
posts are driven, and they usually stand between
every alternate vine, or twenty feet apart if the
vines are ten feet apart — which is a common dis-
tance for the most vigorous varieties. For the
strong -growing varieties, the top wire is placed
from five and one -half to six feet above the
ground. Five feet nine inches is a popular
height. The posts will heave sufficiently to bring
the height to six feet, although it is best to "tap"
the posts every spring with a maul in order to
drive them back and make them firm. The lower
wire is usually placed at three and one -half feet.
Delawares, if trained Kniffin, should not stand
above five feet four inches, or at most five feet
six inches. Strong vines on good soil are often
put onto the trellis the second year, although it
is a commoner practice, perhaps, to stake them
the second season, as already explained (page 412),
and put them on the wires the third season. The
year following the tying on the trellis, the vine
should bear a partial crop. The vine is usually
carried directly to the top wire the first season of
training, although it is the practice of some grow-
ers, especially outside the Hudson Valley, to stop

466 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

the trunk at the lower wire the first year of
permanent training, and to carry it to the top
wire the following year.

Yields from good Kniffin vines will average fully
as high and perhaps higher than from other
species of training. W. D. Barns, of Orange
county, New York, has had an annual average of
twenty -six pounds of Concords to the vine for
nine years, 1,550 vines being considered in the
calculation. While the Delaware is not so well
suited to the Kniffin system as stronger varieties,
it can nevertheless be trained in this manner with
success, as the following average yields obtained
by Mr. Barns from 200 vines set in 1881 will
show :

-1007

1888

' '

1889

1890

1891

1892 ..

.. 13

MODIFICATIONS OF THE FOUR -CANE KNIFFIN. —
Various modifications of this original four -cane
Kniffin are in use. The Kniffin idea is often
carelessly applied to a rack trellis. In such cases,
several canes were allowed to grow where only
two should have been left. Fig. 295 is a com-
mon but poor style of Kniffin used in some of
the large new vineyards of western New York.
It differs from the type in the training of the

MODIFIED KNIFFINS

467

young wood. These shoots, instead of being al-
lowed to hang at will, are carried out horizon-
tally and either tied to the wire or twisted around
it. The advantage urged for this modification
is the little injury done by wind, but, as a mat-
ter of practice, it affords less protection than the
true drooping Kniffin, for in the latter the shoots

295. A common but poor type of Kniffin.

from the upper cane soon cling to the lower
wire, and the shoots from both tiers of canes
protect each other below the lower wire. There
are three serious disadvantages to this holding
up of the shoots, — it makes unnecessary labor,
the canes are likely to make wood or "bull
canes" (see page 450) at the expense of fruit,
and the fruit is bunched together on the vines.
The true and successful Kniffin does not allow

468 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

the growing shoots to run out on the wires in
this way (see page 464).

Another common modification of the four -cane
Kniffin is that shown in Fig. 296, in which a
crotch or Y is made in the trunk. This crotch
is used in the belief that the necessary sap sup-

296. The Y-trunk Kniffin.

ply is thereby more readily deflected into the
lower arms than by the .system of side spurring
on a straight or continuous trunk. This is prob-
ably a fallacy, and may have arisen from the at-
tempt to grow as heavy canes on the lower wires
as on the upper one. Nevertheless, this modifi-
cation is in common use in western New York
and elsewhere.

This Y-trunk Kniffin , as understood in western
New York, is explained in its various stages in

MODIFIED KNIFFINS 469

Figs. 297 to 303,* the cross -marks indicating
where cuts are to be made.

If it is desired to leave an equal number of
buds on both wires, the Double Kniffin will prob-
ably be found most satisfactory. Two distinct
trunks are brought from the root, each supply-
ing a single wire only (Fig. 304). The trunks
are often tied together to hold them in place.
This system, under the name of Improved Kniffin,
is just coming into notice in restricted portions
of the Hudson Valley.

THE TWO -CANE KNIFFIN, OR UMBRELLA SYS-
TEM.— Inasmuch as the greater part of the fruit
in the Four -Cane Kniffin is borne on the upper
wire, the question arises if it would not be better
to dispense with the lower canes and cut the upper
ones longer. This is now done to a considerable
extent, especially in the Hudson Valley. Fig. 305
explains the operation. This shows a pruned
vine. The trunk is tied to the lower wire to
steady it, and two canes, each bearing from nine
to fifteen buds, are left on the upper wire.
These canes are tied to the upper wire, and they
are then bent down, hoop -like, to the lower wire,
where the ends are tied. In some instances, the
lower wire is dispensed with, but this is not ad-
visable. This wire holds the vine in place against
the winds, and prevents the too violent whipping
of the hanging shoots. During the growing sea-

*H. P. Van Dusen, in Pop. Gard. iii. 69.

472 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

son, renewal canes are taken from the spurs in
exactly the same manner as in the ordinary Knif-
fin. This species of training reduces the amount
of leaf -surf ace to a minimum, and every precau-
tion must be taken to insure a healthy leaf-
growth. This system of training will probably
not allow of the successful girdling of the vine
for the purpose of hastening the maturity and
augmenting the size of the fruit (page 284).
Yet heavy crops can be obtained from it, if
liberal fertilizing and good cultivation are em-
ployed, and the fruit is nearly always first -class.
A certain Concord vine trained in this manner
produced in 1892 eighty clusters of first quality
grapes, weighing forty pounds.

Another type of Umbrella training has five
main canes instead of two. Except in very
strong vines, this top is too heavy, and it is
probably never so good as the other (Fig. 305),
if the highest results are desired; but for the
grower who does not practice high cultivation
it is probably a safer system than the other.

THE LOW, OR ONE -WIRE KNIFFIN.— A modifica-
tion of this Umbrella system is sometimes used,
in which the trellis is only three or four feet
high and comprises but a single wire. A cane of
ten or a dozen buds is tied out in each direction,
and the shoots are allowed to hang in essentially
the same manner as in the True or High Kniffin
system. The advantages urged for this system

MODIFIED KNIFFINS

473

are the protection of the grapes from wind, the
large size of the fruit due to the small amount
of bearing wood, the ease of laying down the
vines, the readiness with which the top can be

306. Eight-cane Kniffin. (Diagram.)

renewed from the root as occasion demands, and
the cheapness of the trellis.

THE six -CANE KNIFFIN.— There are many old
vineyards in eastern New York which are trained
on a six -cane or three -wire system. The gen-
eral pruning and management of these vines do
not differ from that of the common Kniffin. Very
strong varieties, which can carry an abundance of
wood, may be profitable on this style of train-
ing, but it cannot be recommended. A Concord
vineyard over thirty years old, comprising 295
vines, trained in this fashion, is still thrifty and

474 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

productive. Twice it has produced crops of six
tons.

EIGHT -CANE KNIFFIN. — Eight and even ten
canes are sometimes left on a single trunk,
and are trained out horizontally or somewhat
obliquely, as shown in the accompanying dia-
gram (Fig. 306). Unless these canes are cut
back to four or five buds each, the vine carries
too much wood and fruit. This system allows
of close planting, but the trellis is too expensive.
The trunk is soon overgrown with spurs,
and it is likely to become prematurely weak.
This style is very rarely used.

CAYWOOD, OVERHEAD, OR ARBOR KNIFFIN. — A
curious modification of the Kniffin is employed
somewhat on the Hudson, particularly by Sands
Haviland, at Marlboro'. The vines are carried
up on a kind of overhead arbor, as shown in
Figs. 307, 308. The trellis is six feet above
the ground, and is composed of three horizontal
wires lying in the same plane. The central wire
runs from post to post, and one upon either
side is attached to the end of a three-foot cross-
bar, as represented in Fig. 307. The rows are
nine feet apart, and the vines and posts twelve
feet apart in the row. Contiguous rows are
braced by a connecting-pole, as in Fig. 308.
The trunk of the vine ends in a T-shaped head.
From this T-head, five canes are carried out
from spurs. It was formerly the practice to

CAYWOOD TRAINING

475

carry out six canes, one in each direction upon
each wire, but this was found to supply too much
wood. Now two canes are carried in one direc-

307. Overhead Kniffin.

tion and three in the other; and the positions
of these sets are alternated each year, if possible.
The canes which are left after the winter prun-
ing are tied along the wires in spring, as in the

476 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

Kniffin, and the shoots hang over the wires. The
chief advantage of this training is that it allows
of the growing of bush -fruits between the rows,
as seen in Fig. 308. It is also said that the
clusters hang so free that the bloom is not in-
jured by the twigs or leaves, and the fruit is
protected from sun and frost. Every post must

308. Overhead Kniffin.

be large and firmly set, however, adding much
to the cost of the trellis.

Several styles similar to this are in use, one
of the best being the Crittenden system, of
Michigan. In this system the trellis is low, not
exceeding four or five feet, and the vines cover
a flat -topped platform two or three feet wide.
By midsummer the drooping shoots have reached
the ground, making a continuous drapery of
foliage, as seen in Fig. 309.

CROSS -WIRE TRAINING 477

THE CROSS -WIRE SYSTEM. — Another high Knif-
fin training, and which is also confined to the
vicinity of Marlboro', New York, is the Cross-
Wire, represented in Fig. 310. Small posts are
set eight feet apart each way? and a single wire
runs from the top of post to post — six and one-
half feet from the ground — in each direction,
forming a check -row system of overhead wires.
The grape-vine is set at the foot of the stake,

309. Crittenden training in the original vineyard.
St. Joseph, Mich.

to which the trunk is tied for support. Four
canes are taken from spurs on the head of the
trunk, one for each of the radiating wires.
These canes are cut to three and one -half or
four feet in length, and the bearing shoots
droop as they grow. Fig. 310 shows this train-
ing as it appears some time after the leaves
start in spring. Later in the season the whole
vineyard becomes a great arbor, and a person
standing at a distance sees an almost impene-
trable mass of herbage. This system appears to

478 AMERICAN .GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

have little merit, aiid will always remain local
in application. It possesses the advantage of
economy in construction of the trellis, for very
slender posts are used, even at the ends of the
rows. The end posts are either braced by a
pole, or anchored by a wire taken from the top

310. Cross-wire training.

and secured to a stake or stone eight or ten feet
beyond, outside the vineyard.

RENEWAL KNIFFIN.— It is an easy matter to
adapt the Kniffin principle of free hanging
shoots to a true renewal method of pruning.
There are a few modifications in use in which
the wood is annually renewed to near the ground.
The trellises comprise either two or three wires,
and are made in the same manner as for the

RENEWAL KNIFFIN

479

upright systems, as the High Renewal. At the
annual pruning only one cane is left. This com-
prises twelve or fifteen buds, and is tied up
diagonally across the trellis, the point or end of
the cane usually being bent downward somewhat,
in order to check the strong growth from the
uppermost parts. The shoots
hang from this cane, and
they may be pinched back
when they reach the ground.
In the meantime, a strong
shoot is taken out from the
opposite side of the head—
which usually stands a foot
or less from the ground — to
make the bearing wood of
the next year; and this new
cane will be tied in an op-
posite direction on the trellis
from the present bearing
cane, and the next renewal
shoot will be taken from
the other side of the hea'd,
or the side from which the
present bearing wood sprung;
so that the bearing top of

the vine is alternated in either direction upon the
trellis. This system, and similar ones, allows of
laying down the vines easily in winter, and in-
sures excellent fruit because the amount of bear-

Munson training.
End view.

480 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

ing wood is small; but the crop produced is
not large enough to satisfy the demands of most
grape growers.

THE MUNSON SYSTEM.— An unique system of
training, upon the Kniffin principle, has been de-
vised by T. V. Munson, of Denison, Texas, a
well-known authority upon grapes.* Two posts
are set in the same hole, their tops diverging.
A wire 'is stretched along the top of these posts,
and a third one is hung between them .on cross-
wires. The trunk of the vine, or its head, is
secured to this middle lower wire and the shoots
lop over the side wires. The growth, therefore,
makes a V-shaped or trough -like mass of herb-
age. Fig. 311 is an end view of this trellis,
showing the short wire connecting the posts, and
which also holds the middle trellis -wire at the
point of the V. Fig. 312 is a side view of the
trellis. The bearing canes, two or four in num-
ber, which are left after the annual pruning, are
tied along this middle wire. The main trunk
forks just under the middle wire, as seen at the
left in Fig. 312. A head is formed at this place
not unlike that which characterizes the High
Renewal, for this system also employs renewal
pruning. The trellis stands six feet high. The
shoots stand upright at first, but soon fall down
and are supported by the side wires. The fol-

*Mr. Munson described and illustrated this mode of training in
"American Garden," xiii. 333 (1892).

482 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

lowing account of this system of training is
written for this occasion by Mr. Munson:*

"After the vines have flowered, the bearing laterals have
their tips pinched off, and that is all the summer pruning
the vine gets, except to rub off all eyes that start on the
body below the crotch. Two to four shoots, according to
strength of vine, are started from the forks or crotch, and
allowed to bear no fruit, but are trained along over the
lower central wire for renewal canes. When pruning time
arrives, the entire bearing cane of the present year, with
all its laterals, is cut away at a point near where the
young renewal shoots have started, and these shoots are
shortened back, according to strength of vine ; some, such
as Herbemont, being able at four years to fill four shoots
six or eight feet long with fine fruit, while Delaware could
not well carry over three or four feet each way of one
shoot only. The different varieties are set at various dis-
tances apart, according as they are strong or weak growers.

" Thus the trellis and system of pruning are reduced to
the simplest form. A few cuts to each vine cover all the
pruning, and a few ties complete the task. A novice can
soon learn to do the work well. The trunk or main stem is
secured to the middle lower wire, along which all bearing
canes are tied after pruning, and from which the young
laterals which produce the crop are to spring. These lat-
erals strike the two outer wires, soon clinging to them
with their tendrils, and are safe from destruction, while
the fruit is thrown in the best possible position for spray-
ing and gathering, and is still shaded with the canopy of
leaves. I have now used this trellis five years upon ten
acres of mixed vines, and I am more pleased with it
every year.

"^The following advantages are secured by this system :

"1. The natural habit of the vine is maintained, which

*American Grape Training, 80.

MUNSON TRAINING 483

is a canopy to shade the roots and body of vine and the
fruit, without smothering.

"2. New wood, formed by sap which has never passed
through bearing wood, is secured for the next crop — a
very important matter.

"3. Simplicity and convenience of trellis, allowing free
passage in any direction through the vineyard ; circulation
of air without danger of breaking tender shoots ; ease of
pruning, spraying, cultivating, harvesting.

"4. Perfect control in pruning of amount of crop to
suit capacity of vine.

"5. Long canes for bearing, which agrees exactly with
the nature of nearly all our American species far better
than short spurs.

"6. Ease of laying down in winter. The vine being
pruned and not tied, standing away from posts, can be
bent down to one side between the rows, and earth thrown
upon it, and can be quickly raised and tied in position.

"7. Cheapness of construction and ease of removing
trellis material and using it again.

"8. Durability of both trellis and vineyard."

The Munson system of training has found
many friends. Waugh writes of it as follows
from experience at the Oklahoma Experiment
Station:*

"It may be well to explain, for those not intimate with
this form of trellis, the construction used and advocated
by Mr. T. V. Munson. According to this method, the posts
are made six feet high. At the top runs a cross-piece two
feet long, at each end of which is fastened one of the
wires of the trellis. Mr. Munson originally used two posts
set in a V- shape, with the tops two feet apart. The result

'Garden and Forest, May 8, 1895, 185.

484 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

is the same either way. Eight inches lower than the two
side wires there is a third wire fastened to the posts.
This brings the three wires into a very broad V shape.
There are no other wires on the trellis.

"The system of pruning, which forms a necessary part
of the scheme, provides that one or two stems be brought
up to the lower or middle wire, and that from these stems
canes 'shall be run each way along this wire. From these
canes the bearing shoots come at right angles, and natur-
ally fall out over the top wires. Renewals are most easily
made by spurring at the point on the lower wire where
the canes are given off from the main stem, though it is
often a very easy matter to renew quite from the ground.

"This system has been in use at the Oklahoma Experi-
ment Station from the first, though that is not very long,
and has given abundant satisfaction in most particulars.
At the first glance, those who are familiar with our severe
winds, but not with the working of this trellis, are much
inclined to fear great damage from the whipping of the
shoots, but, as a matter of fact, this serious difficulty is
nearly overcome by the Munson trellis. It is one of the
most vexing problems in the ordinary horizontal -arm train-
ing, but the increased height of the trellis does not in-
crease the trouble. On the other hand, the peculiar position
occupied by the growing wood gives it almost complete im-
munity. The green shoot is supported in two places near
its base, while most of its length hangs free. Though it
may swing in the wind, there is nothing against which it
may strike, and so the damage is avoided.

"Mr. Munson sets forth his ideas of the advantages of
this system in Professor Bailey's r American Grape Train-
ing/ page 81. However, in our experience here, his sum-
mary is unsatisfactory. Some of the advantages which he
claims do not seem to be peculiar to this system of train-
ing. Others are of slight importance. Those which are
important ought to be more emphasized. In our experience

MUNSON SYSTEM 485

the chief advantages of the system are (1) that it greatly
reduces the damage from the wind; (2) that it reduces
damage by heat reflection from the soil; (3) that it saves
summer tying. The first of these advantages has already
been explained. Eegarding the second, it should be said
that in this country, wherever bunches of fruit hang near
the ground they are usually more or less dried out by the
excessive reflection of heat from the soil during hot sum-
mer days. The loss amounts to a great deal. A conser-
vative estimate placed this loss at from ten to sixty per
cent through this country last season, and in some ex-
ceptional cases the crop was quite destroyed. With the
fruit hanging five or six feet from the ground, and over-
shadowed by a canopy of foliage at least two feet wide,
this evil is evidently much mitigated. The young shoots
do not need to be tied at all, but are left to swing freely
from the support which is given at their bases. In most
other systems summer tying is a considerable and expen-
sive item. Some summer pruning usually has to be done,
but this is much facilitated and probably reduced in abso-
lute quantity by the Munson training.

"Certain weak-growing varieties, like the well-known
Delaware, do not find this trellis adapted to their needs.
Many other circumstances may decide against its use ; but
it is being widely adopted through this country, and there
are many favorable reports from it in other states."

MODIFIED MUNSON. — "This system, which might
better be termed the 'Alternate -Renewal' Mun-
son, presents two advantages which the True
Munson does not possess, and to my mind is
preferable. It permits the bearing wood to be
alternated from one side of the vine to the other,
and is cheaper by one wire.

486 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

"No middle wire is used, and a slat is tacked
across the V in place of the slack wire. A fork
is formed below the wire in Y- shape. From this
fork a cane is trained to the right on one wire,
and to the left on the other wire. A shoot on
each cane, taken from a point near the wire, is
trained in the opposite direction from, but on the
same wire with, the cane, with which to renew the
next season, when the bearing wood will be pruned
to a spur, which in its turn will form a renewal
shoot, and so on, alternately, the bearing canes
extending always in opposite directions and on
different wires, and alternating each year. The
position of the vine the next season will simply
be shifted or reversed.

"Sometimes instead of six feet, the trellis is
made only four feet high. This height appears
to have done just as well as the other at the
Georgia Station. Here, the V supports have been
made of one -by -three slats. When the sharpened
ends are dipped in coal tar, or even white lead,
driven in the ground so that they will cross each
other just above the surface and tacked with two
tenpenny nails, a firm, durable and sightly sup-
port is the result."*

MI SC ELL A NEO US S TS TEMS

HORIZONTAL TRAINING. — There are very few
types of horizontal -shoot training now in use.

*Hugh N. Starnes, Bull. 28, Ga. Exp. Sta. 270.

HORIZONTAL MODES 487

One of the best may be described. Two wires
run from post to post, as in the ordinary trellis,
one about two and one -half feet above the ground
and the other five and one -half feet high. The
posts are set at the ordinary distance of sixteen
or eighteen feet apart. The vines are set six or
eight feet apart, if Delawares or other weak
growers. A strong stake is driven in the ground
just behind each vine, standing as high as the
top of the trellis. The permanent trunk or
head of the vine stands about a foot high. The
vine is renewed back to the top of this trunk
every year. One cane is left at each pruning,
which, when tied up to the stake, is as high as
the trellis. From this perpendicular cane, the
bearing shoots are carried out horizontally.
About six of these shoots are allowed to grow
upon either side of the cane. As the shoots
grow, they are tied to perpendicular slats which
are fastened on the wires. These slats do not
touch the ground. Two slats are provided upon
either side, making four to a vine. They stand
a foot or fifteen inches apart. The clusters hang
free from the horizontal shoots. If the shoots
grow too long, they are pinched in when they
have passed the second slat. While these shoots
are covering the trellis, another shoot is taken
out from the head or trunk of the vine, and
without being allowed to fruit, is tied up along
the central stake. This shoot is to form the top

488 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

next year, for all the present vine is to be en-
tirely cut away at the winter's pruning. So the
vine starts every spring with but a single cane.

Excellent results are obtained from the slender-
growing varieties by this method of training, but
it is too expensive in trellis and in the labor of
tying to make it generally practicable. Delaware,
however, thrives remarkably well when trained in
this fashion.

POST TRAINING. — There are various methods of
training to posts, all of which possess two ad-
vantages— the saving of the expense of trellis and
allowing of cultivation both ways. But they also
have grave disadvantages, especially in the thick-
ness of the head of foliage, which harbors rot
and mildew and prevents successful spraying,
and hinders the fruit from coloring and ripening
well. These faults are so serious that post
training is now little used for the American
grapes. The saving in cost of trellis is not
great, for more posts are required to the acre
than in the trellis systems, and they do not en-
dure long when standing alone with the whole
weight of the vines thrown upon them.

There are various methods of pruning for the
stake training, but nearly all of them agree in
pruning to side spurs on a permanent upright
arm which stands the full height of the vine.
There may be one or two sets of these spurs.
We might suppose the Kniffin vine, shown in

POST TRAINING 489

Fig. 294, to be tied to a post instead of stretched
on a trellis ; in that event, the four canes would
hang at will, or they might be wrapped about
the post, the shoots hanging out unsupported in
all directions. The post systems are essentially
Kniffin in principle, for the shoots hang free.
In low styles of post training, the permanent
head of the vine may be only three or four feet
high. This head will have a ring of spurs on it,
and at the annual pruning three to five canes
are left with from six to ten buds each.

The main trunk is usually tied permanently to
the post. The canes left after pruning are va-
riously disposed. Sometimes they are bent up-
wards and tied to the post above the head of the
vine, but they are oftenest either wound loosely
about the post, or are allowed to hang loose.
Two trunks are frequently used to each post,
both coming from the ground from a common
root. These are wound about the post in oppo-
site directions, one outside the other, and if the
outside one is secured at the top by a small nail
driven through it, or by a cord, no other tying
will be necessary. Sometimes two or three posts
are set at distances of one foot or more apart,
and the vines are wrapped about them, but this
only augments the size and depth of the mass
of foliage. Now and then one sees a careful
post training, in which but little wood is left
and vigorous breaking out of shoots practiced,

490 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

which gives excellent results ; but on the whole,
post training cannot be recommended. The Euro-
pean post and stake systems, or modifications of
them, are yet occasionally recommended for Ameri-
can vines, but under general conditions, especially
in commercial grape growing, they rarely succeed
long. One of the latest recommendations of any
of these types is that of the single pole system of
the Upper Rhine Valley by A. F. Hofer, of Iowa,
in a little treatise published in 1878.

ARBORS. — Arbors and bowers are usually
formed with little reference to pruning and train-
ing. The first object is to secure shade and se-
clusion, and these are conditions which may
seriously interfere with _ the production of fine
grapes. As a rule, too much wood must be al-
lowed to grow, and the soil about arbors is
rarely ever cultivated. Still, fair results in fruit
can be obtained if the operator makes a diligent
use of the pruning shears. It is usually best to
carry one main or permanent trunk up to the
top or center of the arbor. Along this trunk at
intervals of two feet or less, spurs may be left to
which the wood is renewed each year. If the
vines stand six feet apart about the arbor — which
is a satisfactory distance — one cane three feet
long may be left on each spur when the pruning
is done. The shoots which spring from these
canes will soon cover up the intermediate spaces.
At the close of the season, this, entire cane, with

REMODELING OLD VINES 491

its laterals, is cut away at the spur, and another
three -foot cane — which grew during the season —
is left in its place. This pruning is essentially
that of the Kniffin vine in Fig. 294. Imagine
this vine, with as many joints or tiers as neces-
sary, laid upon the arbor. The canes are tied
out horizontally to the slats instead of being tied
on wires. This same system — running up a long
trunk and cutting -in to side spurs — will apply
equally well to tall walls and fences which it is
desired to cover. Undoubtedly a better plan, so
far as yield and quality of fruit is concerned, is
to renew back nearly to the root, bringing up a
strong new cane, or perhaps two or three every
year, and cutting the old ones off ; but as the
vines are desired for shade, one does not care to
wait until midsummer for the vines to reach and
cover the top of the arbor.

REMODELING OLD VINES. — Old and neglected
tops can rarely be remodeled to advantage. If
the vine is still vigorous, it will probably pay to
grow an entirely new top by taking out a cane
from the root. If the old top is cut back severely
for a year or two, this new cane will make a vig-
orous growth, and it can be treated essentially like
a new or young vine. If it is very strong and
ripens up well, it can be left long enough the first
fall to make the permanent trunk ; but if it is
rather weak and soft, it should be cut back in the
fall or winter to two or three buds, from one of

492 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING, CONCLUDED

which the permanent trunk is to be grown the
second season. Thereafter, the instructions which
are given in the preceding pages for the various
systems will apply to the new vine. The old
trunk should be cut away as soon as the new one
is permanently tied to the wires, — that is, at the
close of either the first or second season of the
new trunk. Care must be exercised to rub off all
sprouts which spring from the old root or stump.
If this stump can be cut back into the ground and
covered with earth, better results may be expected.
Old vines treated in this manner often make good
plants, but if the vines are weak and the soil is
poor, the trouble will scarcely pay for itself.

These old vines can be remodeled easily by
means of grafting. Cut off the trunk five or six
inches below the surface of the ground, leaving an
inch or two of straight wood above the roots.
Into this stub insert two cions exactly as for cleft-
grafting the apple. Cions of two or three buds,
of firm wood the size of a lead pencil, should be
inserted. The top bud should stand above the
ground. The cleft will need no tying or wax,
although it is well to place a bit of waxed cloth or
other material over the wound to keep the soil out
of it. Fill the earth tightly about it. Great care
must be taken in any pruning which is done this
first year, or the cions may be loosened. If the
young shoots are tied to a stake there will be less
danger from wind and careless workmen. In the

GRAFTING VINES 493

vine shown in the illustration (Fig. 313), no prun-
ing or rubbing out was done, but the vine would
have been in better shape for training if only
one or two shoots had been allowed to grow.

313. A good yearling graft.

If it is desired, however, to keep the old top, it
will be best to cut back the annual growth heavily
at the winter pruning. The amount of wood
which shall be left must be determined by the
vigor of the plant and the variety, but three or
four canes of six to ten buds each may be left at
suitable places. During the next season a strong
shoot from the base of each cane may be allowed
to grow, which shall form the wood of the follow-
ing season, while all the present cane is cut away
at the end of the year, so that the bearing -wood
is renewed each year, as in the regular systems
of training. Much skill and experience are often
required to properly rejuvenate an old vine; and in
very many cases the vine is not worth the trouble.

CHAPTER IX

VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

The Old World grape, Vitis vinifera, is a dis-
tinct species or type from the American grapes,
and the methods of training and pruning which
apply to the one may not apply to the other.
We have already seen (Chapter VII.) that early
American grape training was a transplantation
of European methods. The Vinifera is the grape
which is grown in the Pacific region for wine
and raisins, and it is the grape of glass-houses.

CALIFORNIA PRACTICE*

(F. T. BlOLETTl)

The literature relating to the pruning and
training of the vine is already very voluminous,
but there seems to be no one work which treats

*This account is founded on "Vine Pruning," by F. T. Bioletti, Bull.
119, Cal. Exp. Sta., Dec., 1897, the bulletin being used for this purpose by
permission. Unless otherwise stated, the chapter is a verbatim tran-
scription of Bioletti's essay. Not all of the bulletin, however, is here
reproduced. Some of the illustrations have been redrawn, and others
have been reduced in size. The bulletin was reprinted in the "Cali-
fornia Fruit- Grower," Jan. 15 to Feb. 5, 1898.

Persons who are interested in the pruning and training of the wine
or raisin grape in America should also consult Wickson's "California
Fruits" and Eisen's "Raisin Industry."

(494)

CALIFORNIAN PRACTICE 495

the subject in a thorough and convenient way
for California vine -growers. Publications in
English refer generally to methods suited to the
Eastern states or to hot -house cultivation, while
foreign publications, besides being more or less
inaccessible, treat the subject so widely that the
grower is at a loss what to choose from such a
mass of material. It is the purpose of this
bulletin, therefore, to present a brief summary
of what in foreign methods seems useful and
applicable to California conditions, together with
the results of experiments on the University of
California vine plots, and of observations made
in numerous vineyards in various regions of the
state.

Almost every vine -growing district has its
peculiar systems of training, ranging from the
non -training usual in parts of Italy, where the
vine spreads almost at will over trees planted for
the purpose, to the acme of mutilation practiced
in many localities where the vine is reduced to
a mere stump barely rising above the surface of
the ground. These various systems will not be
discussed here, but only those which experience
has shown to be most adapted to California con-
ditions.

No account, however detailed, of any system
can replace the intelligence of the cultivator.
For this reason the general principles of plant
physiology which underlie all proper pruning

496 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

and training are discussed in connection with the
several systems described. This should aid the
grower in choosing that system most suited to
the conditions of his vineyard, and to modify it
to suit special conditions and seasons. All the
operations of pruning, tying, staking, etc., to
which a cultivated vine owes its form, are con-
veniently considered together.

A description of a typical vine giving the names
of the principal parts will make clear the accounts
of methods to be given later. Fig. 314 repre-
sents a vine of no particular order of pruning,
showing the various parts. The main body of
the vine (t) is called the trunk or stem ; the
principal division Cb) branches ; the smaller di-
visions (a) arms, and the ultimate ramifications
(c) shoots when green, and canes when mature.
A shoot growing out of the vine above ground
on any part older than one year (ws) is called a
watersprout. Shoots coming from any part of
the vine below ground (s) are called suckers.
When a cane is cut-back to 1, 2, 3, or 4i eyes, it
is called a spur (r). When a shoot or cane of
one season sends out a secondary shoot the same
season, the latter (I) is called a lateral.

The Fig. 315 represents an arm of a vine as it
appears in winter after the leaves have fallen.
The canes (w1) are the matured shoots of the
previous spring, w2, w3, w4 represents two, three
and four -year -old wood respectively. Near the

TERMINOLOGY OF THE VINE 497

base of each cane is a basal bud or eye (B°). In
counting the number of eyes on a spur, the basal
eye is not included. A cane cut at K1, for in-
stance, leaves a spur of one eye, at K2 a spur of
two eyes, and so on. When more than four eyes
are left, the piece is generally called a fruiting
cane (Fig. 314, /). The canes (c^c1) coming from

314. Diagram to illustrate terminology.

two -year -old wood (w2) possess fruit buds ; that
is, they are capable of producing fruit -bearing
shoots. Watersprouts (ws) and suckers (s) do
not ordinarily produce fruit -bearing shoots. Be-
low the basal bud each cane has one or more dor-
mant buds (b, Fig. 316), which do not grow unless
the number of eyes left by pruning or frost is
insufficient to relieve the excess of sap pressure.
These buds produce sterile shoots. Each eye on
a cane has at its base two dormant buds. One
of these sometimes grows out the year it is

498 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

formed, making a lateral (/, Figs. 314, 315).
These laterals may send out secondary laterals
(si, Fig. 314) . It is on the laterals and second-
ary laterals that the so-called second and third
crops are borne.

PROPER METHOD OF MAKING CUTS.— It is by no
means a matter of indifference just where the cut

315. Illustrating the parts of the vine.

is made in removing a cane or arm. This will
be made clearer by referring to Fig. 316. The
upper part of the spur is represented as split in
two longitudinally, in order to show the internal
structure of the cane. It will be noted that at
each bud there is a slight swelling of the cane.
This is called a node, and the space between an
internode. The internodes are filled with soft
pith, but at each node there is a growth of hard.

WHERE TO CUT

499

wood extending through the cane. Now, if the
cane be cut off at c1, in the middle of an inter-
node, the pith will shrink away and leave a little
hollow in which the rain collects. This is an ex-
cellent breeding place for fungi and bacteria,
which cause rotting of the pith and frequently
kill the bud. If, on the contrary, the cane be cut
at c2, through a node, a protecting cover of hard
wood is left which is an effectual barrier against
decay organisms. If a spur projects
too far from the vine, and it is de-
sirable to make it as short as pos-
sible in order not to interfere with
cultivation, it should be cut at c,
and the cut made as nearly vertical
as possible. This allows the water
to run off, and leaves less pith to
foster the growth of the fungi. At
the base of the cane there is a slight
enlargement (E). In removing a
cane completely, the cut should be
made just above this enlargement.
This is the most favorable place for
healing, as it makes the smallest
possible wound, and does not leave make the cuts.
a projecting stump of dead wood to
prevent the healing tissues from closing over the
wound. In removing a piece of older wood, as
at K° and T1, Fig. 315, it is advisable not to cut
too close for fear of injuring the spur by the dry-

316. How to

500 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

ing out of the wood. The projecting pieces of
dead wood left in this way should be carefully
removed the next year, in order to allow the
wound to heal over. The large cuts which are
thus occasionally necessary are most easily per-
formed by means of a well-made and well-
sharpened pair of two -hand pruning shears.
These shears are often to be preferred to the ordi-
nary one -hand shears, because they render the
cutting through the nodes easier, and do away
almost entirely with the necessity of a saw. Of
course, a careless workman may split and injure
vines seriously by using long -handled shears
clumsily, but the bending of arms to facilitate
cutting with the one -hand shears, often results
in the same evil. The one -hand shears, however,
are more convenient when many long fruiting
canes are left, as the necessary trimming off of
tendrils and laterals is more easily performed with
them.

SHORT AND LONG PRUNING. — The winter -prun-
ing of the vine consists in cutting off a certain
amount of the mature wood of the immediately
preceding season's growth (canes), and occa-
sionally of the older wood. The main problem
of winter -pruning, then, resolves itself into de-
termining how much and what wood shall be left.
In all kinds of pruning most of the canes are re-
moved entirely.

In short -pruning the remainder are cut back

SHORT AND LONG PRUNING 501

to spurs of one, two or three eyes. The number
of spurs is regulated by the vigor and age of the
vine. This mode of pruning can be used only
for varieties in which the eyes near the base of
the cane are fruitful. For all other cases long
or half -long pruning is necessary.

In half -long pruning, certain canes are left with
from four to six eyes, according to the length
of the internodes. These canes or fruit -spurs
will bear more fruit than short spurs for three
reasons : 1, because there will be more fruit-
bearing shoots ; 2, because the upper eyes are
more fruitful than the lower ; and 3, because a
larger number of eyes being supplied with sap
from the same arm, each shoot will be less vig-
orous and therefore more fruitful. Owing, how-
ever, to the tendency of the vine to expend the
principal part of its vigor on the shoots farthest
removed from the base of the canes, the lower
eyes on the long spurs will generally produce
very feeble shoots. In order, then, to obtain
spurs of sufficient vigor for the next year's crop,
it would be necessary to choose them near the
ends of the long spurs of the previous year, if
no others were left. This would result in a
rapid and inconvenient elongation of the arms.
In order to avoid this it is necessary to leave a
spur of one or two eyes below each long -fruiting
spur, that is to say, near the trunk. These
short wood spurs having only one or two eyes,

502 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

will produce vigorous canes for the following
year, and the spurs which have borne fruit may
be removed altogether, thus preventing an undue
elongation of the arms. In half -long pruning,
however, it is very hard to retain the proper
equilibrium between vigor and fruitfulness. If a
little too much wood is left the shoots from the
wood spurs will not develop sufficiently, and the
next year we have to choose between leaving
small under -sized spurs near the trunk and spurs
of proper size too far removed from the trunk.
In long -pruning this difficulty, as will be seen,
is to a great extent avoided.

In long-pruning, the fruit spurs of half-long
pruning are replaced by long fruit canes. These
are left two or three feet long, or longer. The
danger here that the vine will expend all its en-
ergies on the terminal buds of these long canes
and leave the eyes of the wood spurs undeveloped
is still greater than in half -long pruning. This
difficulty is overcome by bending or twisting the
fruit canes in some manner. This bending
causes a certain amount of injury to the tissues
of the canes, which tends to check the flow of
sap towards their ends. The sap pressure thus
increases in the lower buds and forces them out
into strong shoots to be used for spurs for the
next pruning. The bending has the further effect
of diminishing the vigor of the shoots on the fruit
canes, and thus increasing their fruitfulness.

THE YOUNG VINE 503

This principle of increase of fruitfulness by
mechanical injury is very useful if properly un-
derstood and applied. It is a well-known fact
that vines attacked by phylloxera or root -rot
will for one year bear an exceptionally large
crop on account of the diminution of vigor
caused by the injury to their roots. A vine also
which has been mutilated by the removal of
several large arms will often produce heavily the
following year. In all these cases, however, the
transient gain is more than counter -balanced by
the permanent injury and loss. The proper ap-
plications of the principle is to injure tissues
only of those parts of the plant which it is in-
tended to remove the next year (fruit canes), and
thus increase fruitfulness without doing any per-
manent injury to the plant.

PRUNING OF YOUNG VINES.— When a rooted
vine is first planted, it should be cut back to
two eyes. If the growth is not very good the
first season, all the canes but one should be re-
moved at the first pruning, and that one left
with two or three eyes, according to its strength.
The next year, or the same year in the case of
strong growing vines in rich soil, the strongest
cane should be left about twelve inches long and
tied up to the stake. The next year two spurs
may be left, of two or three eyes each. These spurs
will determine the position of the head or place
from which the arms of the vine spring. It is

504 VINIPERA GRAPE TRAINING

important, therefore, that they should be chosen
at the right height from the ground. From
ten to twenty inches is about the right height ;
the lowest for dry hillsides, where there is no
danger of frosts ; the highest for rich bottom
lands, where the vine will naturally grow large.
Vines grown without stakes will have to be
headed lower than this in order to make them
support themselves. In the following few years
the number of spurs should be increased grad-
ually, care being taken to shape the vine
properly and to maintain an equal balance of the
arms.

In general, young vines are more vigorous than
old, and tend more to send out shoots from
basal and dormant buds. They should, there-
fore, be given more and longer spurs in propor-
tion than older vines. They also tend to bud
out very early in the spring, and are thus liable
to be frost-bitten. For this reason they are
generally pruned late (March) in frosty loca-
tions. This protects them in two ways. In the
first place, in unpruned vines the buds near the
ends of the canes start first and relieve the sap
pressure, and though these are caught by the frost,
the buds near the base, not having started, are
saved. In the second place, the pruning being
done when the sap is flowing, there is a loss of
sap from the cut ends of the spurs, which further
relieves the sap pressure and retards the starting

MODES OF PRUNING 505

of the lower eyes. This method of preventing
the injury of spring frosts by very late pruning
has been tried with bearing vines, but is very in-
jurious. Older vines, being less vigorous are
unable to withstand the heavy drain caused by
the profuse bleeding which ensues ; and though
no apparent damage may be done the first year,
if the treatment is continued they may be com-
pletely ruined in three or four years.

Systems of Pruning

The systems of pruning adapted to vineyards
in California may be divided into six types, ac-
cording to the form given to the main body of
the vine and the length of the spurs and fruit-
ing canes.

A. Vine pruned to a head, with short arms.

I. With spurs of two or three eyes only

(short -pruning).

II. With wood spurs of one or two eyes and
fruit spurs of four to six eyes (half-
long pruning).

III. With wood spurs of one or two eyes
and long fruit canes (long -pruning).

B. Vine with a long horizontal branch or con-

tinuation of the trunk.

IV. With spurs of two or three eyes only
(short -pruning).

506 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

V. With wood spurs of one or two eyes and
fruit spurs of four to six eyes (half-
long- pruning).
VI. With wood spurs of one or two eyes

and long fruit canes ( long- pruning ).
These types are applicable to different varieties
of vines, according — (1) To the natural stature of
the vine — that is to say, whether it is a large or
small grower and tends to make a large, extended
trunk or a limited one. (2) To the position of
the fruit -buds. In some varieties all the buds of
the canes are capable of producing fruitful shoots,
while in others the one, two or three buds nearest
the base produce only sterile shoots. (3) To the
size of the individual bunches. It is necessary in
order to obtain a full crop from a variety with
small bunches, to leave a larger number of eyes
than is necessary in the case of varieties with
large bunches.

What type or modification of a type shall be
'adopted in a particular instance, depends both on
the variety of vine and on the nature of the vine-
yard. A vine growing on a dry hillside must not
be pruned the same as another vine of the same
variety growing on rich bottom land. In general,
vines on rich soil, where they tend to grow large
and develop abundant vegetation, should be given
plenty of room and allowed to spread themselves,
and should be given plenty of fruiting -buds in
order to control their too strong inclination to " go

SHORT -PRUNING

507

to wood." Vines on poor soil, on the contrary,
should be planted closer together and pruned
shorter, or with fewer fruiting -buds, in order to
maintain their vigor.

TYPE I. — This is the ordinary short -pruning
practiced in ninety per cent of the vineyards of
California, and is the simplest and least expensive
manner of pruning the vine. It is, however,
suited only to vines of small growth, which pro-

317. Epochs in the common short-pruning system.

duce fruitful shoots from the lowest buds, and of
which the bunches are large enough to admit of a
full crop from the small number of buds which are
left by this method. The chief objection to this
method for heavily -bearing vines is that the
bunches are massed together in a way that favors
rotting of the grapes and exposes the different
bunches unequally to light and heat.

508 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

The Fig. 317 represents the simplest form of
this style of pruning. The vine should be given
as nearly as possible the form of a goblet,
slightly flattened in the direction of the rows. It
is important that the vine be kept regular and
with equally balanced arms. This is the chief
difficulty of the method, and calls for the ex-
ercise of some judgment. From the first, the
required form of the vine should be kept in
view. On varieties with a trailing habit of
growth, vertical spurs must be chosen, . and
with some upright growers it will be found
necessary to choose spurs nearer the horizontal.

The arms must be kept short for convenience of
cultivation and to give them the requisite strength
to support their crop without bending or breaking.
For this reason the lowest of the two or three
canes coming from last year's spur should be left.
For instance, on Fig. 315 the cane should be cut
at K2 or K3, according as two or three eyes are
needed, and the rest of the arm removed at K°.
As even with the greatest care some arms will
become too long or project in wrong directions, it
is necessary to renew them by means of canes
from the old wood or watersprouts. For instance,
if the other arm represented on Fig. 315 were too
long, it should be removed and replaced by an-
other developed from the cane (ws). As the
cane comes from three -year -old wood it cannot be
depended on to produce grapes. For this reason

SHORT - PRUNING 509

it is best the first year to prune the arm at T,
leaving a spur for fruit, and cut the watersprout
at T°, leaving a wood spur of one eye. The next
year the cane coming from the first eye of ws can
be left for a fruit -spur, and the arm removed at
T1. The cutting -back of an elongated arm
should not be deferred too long, as the removal of
old arms leaves large wounds, which weaken the
vine and render it liable to attacks of fungi.

In order to maintain the equilibrium of the
arms, it is often necessary to prune back the more
vigorous arms severely in order to throw the
strength of the vine into the weaker arms. If
the vine appears too vigorous, that is, if it ap-
pears to be "going to wood" at the expense of the
crop, two spurs may be left on some or all of the
arms. In this case the upper spur should be cut
above the third eye (K4, Fig. 315), and the lower
above the first or second (K1 or K2). This will
cause the bulk of the fruit to be borne on the
upper spur, and the most vigorous shoots to be
developed on the lower, which provides the wood
for the following year. This is an approach to the
next (half -long) method of pruning.

[Professor Wickson sends me Fig. 318 as "a
clear, satisfactory and characteristic view of the
illimitable valley raisin extensions" of California.
— L. H. B.]

TYPE II. — Vines which require more wood than
can well be given by ordinary short pruning, or

SHORT -PRUNING

511

of which the lower eyes are not sufficiently pro-
ductive, may iu some cases be pruned in the
manner illustrated by Fig. 319. For some va-
rieties it is necessary to leave spurs of only three
eyes, as at s; for others, short canes of four or
five eyes must be left, as at cc. These shorter
spurs can be left without support, but the longer

ones require some arrangement to prevent their
c

319. Another type of
short-pruning.

320. Still longer pruning.

bending over with the weight of fruit and de-
stroying the shape of the vine. In some cases
simply tying the ends of the canes together will
support them fairly well, but it is better to
attach them to a stake, and bend them at the
base a little when possible, in order to retard the
flow of sap to the ends. It is very necessary to
leave strong spurs of one eye (not counting the

512 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

basal eye) in order to provide wood for the fol-
lowing year. At the pruning following the one
represented in the cut, the fruiting part of the
arms will be removed at M, and a new fruiting
spur or cane made of the cane which comes from
the eye on the wood spurs w. The basal bud on
w will in all probability have produced a cane
which can be cut back to one eye to furnish a
new wood -spur. If this is not the case it shows
that too much wood was left the first year, and
therefore no fruit -cane should be left on this
arm, but only a single spur of two or three eyes.
This will be a return to short pruning, and must
be resorted to whenever the small size of the
canes or the failure to produce replac-
ing wood near the head of the vine
shows that the vigor is diminishing. If,
on the contrary, the arm shows an abun-
dance of vigorous canes, proving that
the vine has not overborne, a fruit -cane
may be left from one of the shoots
coming from the lower buds of the
fruit -cane c, and a new wood -spur of
two eyes left on the shoot coming
from the wood -spur of the previous
year (w) . In this case, the removal of
the arm at k is deferred one year, and the extra
vigor of the vine is made use of to produce an
extra crop.

TYPE III. — This style is an extension of the

TYING THE CANES 513

principles used in Type II, as will be understood
by referring to Fig. 320. The fruiting canes
are left still longer, and in some cases almost
the full length of the cane. As each cane will
thus produce a large amount of fruit, fewer arms
are necessary than in the preceding method. It
is especially necessary to leave good, strong spurs
of one or two eyes to produce wood for the fol-
lowing year. There are various methods of dis-
posing of the long fruiting canes, the worst of
which is to tie them straight up to the stake, as
was recommended for the half -long canes. In
the latter case, owing to their shortness, a
certain amount of bending of the canes is pos-
sible with this method of tying. With long
canes, on the contrary, it usually allows of no
bending, and as a result there ensues a vigorous
growth of shoots at the ends of the fruiting
canes, and little or no growth in the parts where
it is necessary to look for wood the following
year. Often, indeed, each long cane will pro-
duce only three shoots, and these from the three
terminal eyes, all the other eyes of the cane
remaining dormant. The object of long pruning
is thus doubly defeated, 1st, because no more
shoots are produced than by short pruning ; and
2nd, because the shoots which should produce
fruit are rendered especially vigorous by their
terminal and vertical position, and therefore less
fruitful. Each year all this vigorous growth of
GG

514 VINIPERA GRAPE TRAINING

wood at the ends of the canes must be cut away
in order to keep the vine within practical
bounds, and the fruit -canes renewed from the
less vigorous cane below. These canes are less
vigorous because the main strength of the vine
hag been expended on the upper canes, which are
most favorably placed for vegetative vigor.
Vines treated in this way may be gradually
exhausted, though producing only a moderate

322. Another method of tying the canes.

or small crop of fruit, by being forced to pro-
duce an abundant crop of wood.

One of the simplest ways of tying the fruiting
canes is illustrated by Fig. 321. The canes are
bent into a circle, the ends tied to the stake near
the head of the vine, and the middle of the circle
attached higher up. The tying should be done
so that the cane receives a severe bend near the
base — that is, about the region of the second and
third eyes. This can usually be accomplished

TYING THE CANES 515

by tying the end of the cane first, and then press-
ing down on the middle of the bow until the de-
sired bend is attained. If two fruiting canes are
left, they should be made to cross each other at
right angles in order to distribute the fruit as
equally as possible. As a rule, more than two
canes should not be tied up in this way, as it
makes too dense a shade, and masses the fruit
too much.

The Fig. 322 shows another method of tying
the long canes. A horizontal wire is stretched
along the row at about fifteen to twenty inches
above the ground. To this the fruiting canes
should be attached, using the same precaution
of bending the canes near the bases. The upper
part of the canes is not bent in this case as in the
last, but the necessary diminution of vigor and
increase of fruitfulness is brought about by the
horizontal position. Two canes may be attached
to the wire on each side. The stake is best used
to support the shoots destined for the wood for
the following year. This makes it possible, where
topping is practiced, to cut off the ends of the
shoots from the fruiting canes, and to leave the
rest their full length. Another, or even two
other wires, may be used above the first for more
canes, but this is seldom profitable, and consider-
ably increases the cost, both of installation and
of pruning.

This style of pruning is especially favorable to

516 VINIPEEA GRAPE TRAINING

varieties of small growth, which bear small
bunches, and principally on the upper eyes, and
to varieties of larger growth in hilly or poor soils.
One of its main objections is that . it renders
some varieties more liable to sunburn.

It will be noticed that the long -pruned vines
are represented in the figures as having much
fewer arms than the short -pruned. This is
necessary and important. In order to maintain
a well-balanced vine, and keep it under control,
there should be only about as many arms as long
canes, or at, most one or two more.

[The views in Figs. 323, 324 show the long-
pruning or "pruning to a high stake." They
are supplied by Professor Wickson. — L. H. B.]

TYPES IV., V. AND VI.— The three styles of
pruning so far described have been fairly thor-
oughly tested in California, and each has been
found applicable to certain varieties and conditions .
There are some varieties, however, which do not
give good results with any of these systems. This
is the case with many valuable table grapes, espe-
cially when grown in rich valley soil, where they
should do best. For these cases some modification
of the French cordon system is to be recom-
mended. Little trial of this method nas been made
as yet, but what has been done is very promising.
The tendency of many grapes to coulure is over-
come, and rich soils are made to produce crops in
proportion to their richness. The method consists

323. Long-pruning, before the vines are trimmed.

324. Long-pruning, after the vines are trimmed.

518 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

essentially in allowing the vine to grow in a more
or less horizontal direction for several feet, thus
giving a larger body and fruiting surface.

The treatment of the young vines the first year
is the same as for head -pruning, as already de-
scribed. As soon as the young vine produces a
good, strong shoot it is tied up to the wire and bo
the stake which is placed between the vines in the
rows. Each vine should finally reach its neighbor,
but it requires two or three years for this if the
vines are six or seven feet apart in the rows. It is
possible, by cutting the vine back nearly to the
ground for the first year or two, to obtain a cane
which will stretch the whole distance between the
vines at the first tying up; but this is not neces-
sary nor advisable. Neither is it advisable to
make a very sharp angle (almost a right angle), as
is usually done in regular cordon pruning, on
account of the difficulty of preventing the vine
from sending out an inconvenient number of shoots
at the bend. The vine might be grown with two
branches, one stretching in either direction, but
this has been found inconvenient on account of the
difficulty of preserving an equal balance of the
branches. The direction in which the vine is
trained should be that of the prevailing high
winds, as this will minimize the chances of shoots
being blown off. When the cordon or body of the
vine is well -formed, it may be pruned with all the
modifications of short, half-long and long-pruning

CORDON VINES

519

already described in head- pruning, and the same
precautions are necessary to preserve the balance
and symmetry of the vine and to maintain it at
the highest degree of fruitfulness without unduly
exhausting it.

325. Training short-pruned cordons.

326. Training of long-pruned cordons.

The Figs. 325 and 326 will sufficiently illustrate
the way of shaping and tying short and long-
pruned vines. For some table grapes, extension
.of the method shown in Fig. 325 in the direction
of half -long pruning is useful. On a heavy soil
the short spurs do not provide sufficient outlet for

520

VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

the vigor of the vine, while long -pruning would
unduly increase the number of bunches on a sin-
gle cane, and so reduce their size, which would
deteriorate from their value as table grapes.

The Fig. 327 represents a style of pruning used
with success in some of the richest low -lying soils
of France. The body of the vine raised up to a
height of two and a -half or three feet above the
soil, a useful means of lessening the danger from
spring frosts. The fruit -canes are bent vertically

327. Drooping training of long-pruned cordons.

downward, thus restricting the flow of sap suffi-
ciently to force out the lower buds of the fruit-
canes into strong shoots, which can be used for
fruit canes of the following year. This does away,
to some extent, with the necessity of leaving
wood -spurs, and much simplifies the pruning.
Arms, of course, are formed in time, and very
gradually elongate, so that it is necessary to
remove one occasionally and replace it by a

SUMMER TREATMENT 521

water -sprout, as already explained under short-
pruning.

Summer Pruning

Some form of summer or green pruning is
practised in most California vineyards, if in the
term we include all the operations to which the
green shoots are subjected. There seems, how-
ever, to be little system used, and very little
understanding of its true nature and object. In
general, it may be said that green pruning of
the vine is least needed, and is often harmful in
warm, dry locations and seasons, and of most use
under cool and damp conditions.

The principal kinds of green pruning are: 1,
Pinching; 2, Suckering and Sprouting; 3, Top-
ping; 4, Removal of Leaves.

PINCHING consists in removing the extreme
growing tip of a young shoot. It is necessary
to remove only about half an inch to accomplish
the purpose of preventing further elongation of
the shoot, as all growth in length takes place at
the extreme tip. The immediate result of pinch-
ing is to concentrate the sap in the leaves and
blossoms of the shoots, and finally to force out
the dormant buds in the axils of the leaves. It
has been found useful in some cases to combat
coulure or dropping with heavy -growing varie-
ties, such as the Claire tte Blanche. It is also of
use in preventing unsupported shoots from be-

522 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

coming too long while still tender, and being
broken off by the wind. It can, of course, be
used only on fruiting shoots, and not on shoots
intended for wood for the following year.

SUCKERING is the removal of shoots that have
their origin below or near the surface of the
ground. The shoots should be removed as
thoroughly as possible, the enlargement at the
base being cut off in order to destroy the dor-
mant basal buds. An abundant growth of suckers
indicates either careless suckering of former years
(which has allowed a mass of buds below the
ground, a kind of subterranean arm, to develop),
or too limited an outlet for the sap. The latter
may be due to frost or other injuries to the upper,
part of the vine, but is commonly caused by too
close pruning.

SPROUTING is the removal of sterile shoots or
" watersprouts" from the upper part of the vine.
Under nearly all circumstances this is an un-
necessary and often a harmful operation, especially
in warm, dry locations. An exception may per-
haps be made under some conditions of varieties
like the Muscat of Alexandria, which has a strong
tendency to produce " watersprouts" which, grow-
ing through the bunches, injure them for table
and drying purposes.

WATERSPROUTS are produced from dormant buds
in the old wood, and as these buds require a higher
sap pressure to cause them to start than do the

SUMMER TREATMENT 523

fruitful buds, the occurrence of many water
sprouts indicates that too limited a number of
fruitful buds has been left upon the vine to
utilize all the sap pumped up by the roots. To
remove these watersprouts, therefore, while they
are young is simply to shut off an outlet for the
superabundant sap, and thus to injure the vine
by interfering with the water equilibrium, or to
cause it to force out new watersprouts in other
places. Any vigorous vine will produce a certain
number of watersprouts, but they should not be
looked upon as utterly useless and harmful, be-
cause they produce no grapes. On the contrary,
if not too numerous, they are of positive advan-
tage to the vine, being so much increase to the
feeding surface of green leaves. Watersprouts
should be removed completely during the winter
pruning, and the production of too many the next
year prevented by a more liberal allowance of
bearing wood.

TOPPING, or cutting off the ends of shoots, is
done by a means of a sickle or long knife. At
least two or three leaves should be left beyond the
last bunch of grapes. The time at which the
topping is done is very important. When the
object is simply to prevent the breaking of the
heavy, succulent canes of some varieties by the
wind, or to facilitate cultivation, it must, of
course, be done early, and is well replaced by
early pinching. These objects are, however, bet-

524 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

ter attained by appropriate methods of planting
and training. Early topping is inadvisable be-
cause it induces a vigorous growth of laterals,
which make too dense a shade, and it may even
force the main eyes to sprout, and thus injure the
wood for the next year. The legitimate function
of topping is to direct the flow of food material
in the vine first into the fruit, and second into
the buds for the growth of the following year.
If the topping is done while the vine is in active
growth, this object is not attained ; one growing
tip is simply replaced by several. In this way, in
rich, moist soils vines are often, by repeated top-
pings, kept in a continual state of production of
new shoots, and as these new shoots consume
more food than they produce, the crop suffers.
Not only does the crop of the current year suffer,
but still more the crop of the following year, for
the vine devotes its energy to producing new
shoots in the autumn instead of storing up reserve
food -material for the next spring growth. If, on
the other hand, the topping is done after all leaf
growth is over for the season, the only effect is
to deprive the vine of so much food -absorbing
surface.

The topping, then, should be so timed that,
while a further lengthening of the main shoot
is prevented, no excessive sprouting of new lat-
erals is produced. The exact time differs for
locality, season and variety, and must be left

THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES 525

to the experience and judgment of the individual
grower.

REMOVAL OF LEAVES. — In order to allow the
sun to penetrate to and aid the ripening of late
grapes, it is often advisable late in the season to
lessen the leafy shade of the vine. This should
be done by removing the leaves from the center of
the vines, and not by cutting away the canes. In
this way only those leaves are removed which are
injurious, and as much leaf surface as possible is
left to perform the autumn duty of laying up
food -material for the spring. The removal of
leaves should not be excessive, and if consider-
able, should be gradual, otherwise there is danger
of sunburn. It is best, first, to remove the leaves
from below the fruit. This allows free circulation
of the air and penetration of the sun's rays, which
warm the soil and are reflected upon the fruit.
This is generally sufficient, and in any case only
the leaves in the center of the vine, and especially
those which are beginning to turn yellow, should
be removed.

Classification of the Varieties

In the list of varieties which follows, an at-
tempt has been made to indicate the mode of
pruning which is likely, in the light of our pres-
ent knowledge, to give the best results for each
variety. It should be understood, however, that

526 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

it is to some extent tentative and provisional.
Many of the varieties have proved successful in
certain soils and locations when pruned in the
way indicated, but others have never, so far as
we know, been tested in the way proposed. As
these latter, however, have proved more or less
unsuccessful under the common methods of treat-
ment, the method proposed is the one which
seems most suitable to their habit and general
characters. It seems probable that the tendency
to coulure of some varieties, such as the Muscat,
Malbeck, Merlot, Clairette, etc., can be corn-
batted to a great extent by appropriate methods
of pruning and training. Unevenness of ripen-
ing and liability to sunburn of Tokay, Zinfandel,
etc., can doubtless be controlled by the same
means.

Very few varieties succeed under strictly short-
pruning, that is, cutting back to one and two
eyes, so that for most of the varieties in the
first category, the modification of short -pruning
which gives fruit -spurs of three or four eyes
and wood -spurs of one eye is recommended.

TYPE I. — Charbono, Cinsaut, Mataro, Carig-
nane, Grenache, Petit and Alicante Bouschet,
Aramon, Mourastel, Verdal, Ugni-blanc, Folle-
blanche, Burger, Zinfandel, Griiner Velteliner,
Peverella, Zierfahndler (?), Rother Steinschiller
(on poor soils), Slankamenka, Green Hungarian
(on poor soils), Blue Portuguese (on poor soils),

DIFFERENT VARIETIES 527

Tinta Amarella, Moscatello fino, Pedro Ximenes,
Palomino, Beba (?), Peruno, Mantuo, Mourisco
Branco, Malmsey, Mourisco Preto, Feher Szagos,
Muscat of Alexandria, Barbarossa.

TYPE II. — St. Macaire, Beclan (longer or
shorter, according to richness of soil), Teinturier
male, Mondeuse, Marsanne, Chasselas, Muscatel,
Grosse Blaue, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Vert,
Nebbiolo, Fresa, Aleatico.

TYPE III. — Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet
Franc (on poor soils and hillsides), Verdot, Tan-
nat, Gamai Teinturier, Gros Mansenc, Pinots,
Meunier, Gamais, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Chardonay,
Rulander, Affenthaler, Johannisberger, Franken
Riesling (on hillsides), Kleinberger, Traminer,
Walschriesling, Rothgipfler, Lagrain (? perhaps
short), Marzemino, Blue Portuguese (on rich
soils), Barbera, Moretto, Refosco, Tinta de Ma-
deira, Tinta Cao, Verdelho, Boal, Sultanina,
Sultana.*

TYPE IV.— Green Hungarian, Rother Stein-
schiller (on rich soils), Neiretta, Mission, West's
Prolific, Robin Noir.

TYPE V. — St. Macaire and Mondeuse (on rich
bottom soils), Tinta Valdepenas, Marsanne,
Clairette Blanche, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc
(on rich soils), Muscadelle du Bordelais, Ver-

*In the original, Sultanina and Sultana are in the list of short-
pruned varieties, but I ana informed by the California Experiment
Station that they should be placed with the long-pruned ^varieties.

BRA

OF THK

TTNIVERST

528

VINIPERA GRAPE TRAINING

naccia Bianca, Furmint Bakator,
Tadone> Gros Colman, Black Mo-
rocco (!), Cornichon (?), Emperor,
Tokay (!), Almeria, Pizzutello, Cal-
ifornia Black Malvoisie.

TYPE VI.— Malbec, Petite Sirah
and Serine, Cabernet Sauvignon
and Cabernet Franc (on rich bottom
soils), Merlot, Gros Mansenc (? on
rich bottom soils), Chauche Noir,
Bastardo, Trousseau, Ploussard,
Etraie de 1'Adhui, Chauche Gris,
Franken Riesling (on rich soils).

328. Old arm

GLASS-HOUSE PRACTICE

There are many systems of train-
ing vines in graperies. In fact,
nearly every gardener has a mode
or a method of his own, which he
insists is better than all others ;
and this is proof that many systems
are equally good. In general, the
vine is trained to one arm, which
extends from the ground to the
top of the house. From the sides
of this arm, spurs are taken out ;
and these spurs are cut back each

o °ne Or

with short spurs, shows a part of an arm after prun-

GLASS-HOUSE PRACTICE

529

ing, with the very short spurs. Some growers
prefer to have longer spurs, as in Fig. 329. It

329. Long-spur pruning.

is generally desired to have an alternation of fruit-
bearing on these spurs. This is done by pinch-
ing the flower clusters from some of the shoots,
or by cutting to a strong or fruit -bearing bud
on one spur, and to a weak or barren bud at
HH

530

VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING

the very base of the other. The weak bud

gives only a shoot ; but the next year it is cut

to a strong bud and the
neighboring spur is cut
to a weak one.

The vine in Fig. 329
has spurs in pairs. The
one on the left has
already been cut six
times. The pruning of
this vine is explained
in Fig. 330. The former
prunings are marked by
the letters. A more de-
tailed view of an old
spur is given in Fig.
331.

It is generally best to
prune the vines as soon
as the fruit is off, there-
by allowing the vines
to be protected during

the winter, and destroying the lodging places of

insects and fungi.

330. The spurs pruned.

331. An old spur.

INDEX

PAGE

Adlum, quoted 391,393

Almond, fruit-bearing 74

Althsea 338,340

Anderson, A. K., quoted 382

Apple, fruit-buds 22,30, 69

— leaf-bud 27, 69

— flowers 55

— pruning and references 309

— root-pruning 248

Apples, dwarf 278

— experiments on 103

Apricot, fruit-bearing 50, 74

— pruning and references 310

Arbor Kniffin 474

Arbors, of grapes 490

Arches 351

Arm, defined 404

Ash logs 86

Azalea 340

Bacteria in wounds 92

Balmer, quoted 187, 215, 308

Barberry 340

Bark-bound 78

Bark, expansion of 76

Barns, William D 402

grape training 466

quoted 296

Bast, for tying 428

Beach, quoted 328, 331

Bearing year 176

Bellair, G. A., quoted 363

Bending 167

Bioletti, F. T., quoted 494

Blackberry, fruit-bearing 64, 75

— pruning 323

Bleeding 103, 413

PAGE

Bois, D., quoted 355

Bolting trees 125

Bordeaux Mixture for wounds. .109,
119, 121

Borers, injury by 122

Brambles, fruit-bearing 63

Brehaut, quoted 364

Bridge-grafting 120

Brunk, T. L., quoted 236, 240

Buchatt, on ringing 285

Bud, cutting near 221

Budd, Professor, quoted 145

Budded trees 263

Burning prunings 308

Burroughs, on ringing 296

Bushes, pruning 195, 335

Butternut, fruit-bearing 72

California 200, 215, 308, 310

— vine pruning 494

Callus 83

— on roots 233

Cambium 82

Candelabrum 358

Cane, defined 404

Card, on pruning 185

— quoted 113

Caywood system 474

Chautauqua training 434, 439

Cheal, J., quoted 349

Checking growth 162

Chemical analyses 178

Cherry, black 9

— fruit-spur 46, 74

— pruning and references 313

-split 122

— struggle for existence in 7, 11

(533)

534

INDEX

PAGE

Cherry, wild 7

Chestnut, fruit-bearing 72, 75

Chisels for pruning 115, 302

Clematis 340

Climate and pruning. . .185, 187, 199

Coal-tar for wounds Ill

Coates, quoted 115

Come-alongs 420

Conifers, pruning 140

Copings for fruits 350

Co-terminal fruit-bearing 59, 74

Corbett, quoted 233, 402

Cordon 342, 343, 357

Cornell, W. T 458

Cornell, root-pruning at 240

Crab, flowering 340

— pruning 15

Crittenden system 476

Cross-wire system 477

Crotches 125

Currant, fruit-bearing ... .56, 66, 74

— pruning 327, 340

Cutting-back 95, 157,

174, 180, 195, 205

Dendroseope 303

Des Cars, quoted 100, 111, 302

Devitalizing by pruning 4

Devol, W. S., quoted 306

Dewberry, fruit-bearing 64, 75

— pruning 323

Dextrine 179

Downing, A. J., quoted 151

Dressings 84, 89, 109, 190

Drooping grape training 458

Du Breuil, quoted 343, 368

Duf our, quoted 395

Duggar, B. M., quoted 90

Dwarfing 227

Dwarfs, management of 269

Eisen, book by 494

Elder 340

Elm, growth of bark 76

Elms, inarched 388

Espalier 342,343,357

PAGE

Evergreens, pruning 140, 150

Exochorda 340

Fan training 455

Farlow, W. F., quoted 129

Fences, for fruits 351

Filbert, fruit-bearing 72, 74

Fisher, on ringing 286

Florida freezes 147

Form of top 193

Forsythia 340

Freezing, splitting by 122

Frozen trees, repairing 141

— wood 107

Fruit-bud 21, 27, 68

Fruit-spur 30 et seq

Fuller, grape training 391

Fungi of wounds 92

Garden and Forest, quoted 337

Gardeners' Chronicle, quoted. . .384

Gaucher, quoted 284

Girardin's grafts 345

Girdles, repairing 120

Girdling 17, 116, 119,

162, 163, 167, 281

Glass-house grape training 528

Gnawed trees 122

Goblet training 368

Goessmann, on ringing 285

Goff , E. S., quoted 144

Gooseberries, training 384

Gooseberry, fruit-bearing 56, 74

— pruning 327

Grafted trees 263

Grafting vines 492

— wounds 120

Grape, fruit-bearing 63, 75

— ringing 284

— training 390

— young plant 210, 411

Grapes, frozen 149

Graperies 528

Green, Professor, quoted 145

Habit of fruit-bearing 163

Hale, J. H., quoted 262,316

INDEX

535

PAGE

Hardy, J. A., quoted 361

Harris, J. S., quoted 145

Hartwig, quoted 364

Haviland, Sands 474

Hazel, fruit-bearing 72, 74

Heading-in 96, 157,

174, 180, 195, 205

Healing of wounds 76, 189

Hedges 333

Hemlock knots 79

Henderson, quoted 167

Hewett, B. W., quoted 146

Hickory, fruit-bearing.... 61, 72, 75

— log 87

High renewal 441

Hirschinger, C., quoted 146

Hofer, A. F 490

Horizontal arm 437

— training 486

Hudson, R., girdling 293

Husks, for tying.- 428

Hydrangea 338, 340

Inarching 120, 388

Indian Riv. Advocate, quoted ..147

Iowa 145

Iron, sulfate of 344, 347

Johnson, S. W., quoted 393

Juneberry, fruit-bearing 56

Kalmia 340

Kellogg, G. J., quoted 146

Kerria 340

Kieffer pear, treatment of 159

Knife 298

— ringing 295

Kniffin, William 459

Kniffin training 432, 460

Knisely, quoted 178

Knot-holes 81

Knots 79

Koopmann, K., quoted 169

Label wires 116

Leader 150

Lichen on trees Ill

Lilac, pruning 336, 340

PAGE

Lilac shoot 1

Lindley, quoted 284

Lodeman, on grape training 402

— quoted 278

Loquat, fruit-bearing 75

Lord, O. M., quoted 145

Macomber, J. T., quoted 384

Magnolia 340

Maple, fruit-bearing 59

— log 88

— tapping 85

Marvin, D. S., quoted 457

Mask, pruning 307

Medlar, fruit-bearing 75

Meehan's Monthly, quoted 140

Mending trees 116

Minnesota 145

Mock orange 336, 340

Moss on trees Ill

Mulberry, fruit-bearing 75

Munson training 480

Myticuttah shears 304

Nectrias 94

Neff, J. B., quoted 310

Notching 167, 169

Oak knots. 79

Obstructions to sap 161, 167

Olive, fruit-bearing 75

Opoix, quoted 170

Orange, fruit-bearing 75

— pruning 314

Oranges, frozen 147

Ornamental plants 335

Overbearing 165

Overhead grape training 474

Paint for wounds 109, 113, 190

Peach, fruit-bearing 50, 74

— pruning and references 315

— root-pruning 245

— twig of 95

Peaches, laying down 384

Pear, fruit-spur 40, 74

— pruning and references 319

— root-pruning 230, 245

536

INDEX

PAGE

Pear twigs, swellings on 178

Pear-blight 122

Pears, dwarfs 271

Pentosans 179

Persimmon, fruit-bearing 75

Philips, A. J., quoted 146

Physiology of pruning 13

Pine, girdled 117

Plains, pruning on the .144, 185, 199

Plashing 334

Plugging cavities 124

Plum, fruit-spur 46, 74

— headed-in 195

— pruning and references 320

— root-pruning 247

Polyporus sulphurous 94

Pome-fruits 189

Poplars, fruit-bearing 71

Positions of fruit-buds 74

Post training 488

Pots, trees in 374

Powell, quoted 313

Prairie Farmer, quoted 418

Price, R. EL., quoted 236

Principles of pruning 133

Prunus serotina, wound on 94

Punk-fungus 94

Pyramids 342, 356

Quince, fruit-bearing 60, 75

— pruning and references 322

Raffia 426

Raspberry, fruit-bearing 64, 75

— pruning 323

Reasons for pruning 135

Reducing sugar 179

Reid, E. W., quoted 306

Rejuvenating trees 139

Renewal, denned 410

Rhododendron 340

Ringing 17, 281

Rivers, on pot trees 382

— on pyramids 358

— on root-pruning 230

Robbers.. ...155

PAGE

Root-pruning 138, 227

Rose, flower-bearing 67

Roses, pruning 137, 336, 340

Rural New-Yorker, quoted.. 121, 307

Sargent, C. S., quoted 100

Saws 300

Scaffold limbs 204

Schizophyllum commune 94

Scraping trees 121

Season for pruning 181

Shade trees, pruning 333

Shaping the top 222

Shears 298, 301

Shellac for wounds 109

Shoot, defined 404

Shredding 167

Shrubs, pruning 195, 335

Snow, Geo. C 402

Snowball 340

Sorauer, quoted 154, 182

Spencer, John W. . .402, 424, 428, 434

Spirea, pruning 336, 340

Splitting of trunks 122

Spur 30 et seq.

— defined 410

Standard 342

Starch in twigs 179

Starnes, H. N., quoted 402, 486

Stone-f ruits 189

Straw, for tying 428

Strawberry, trimming 304

Street trees, injuries to 129

Stringfellow system 236

Stripping vines 414

Stub-root pruning 236

Subsequent treatment 250

Suckers 155

Sugar, reducing 179

Sulfate of iron 344, 347

Summer pruning 140, 181

Sun-scald '. 122, 185

Tallow for wounds 109

Tamarisk 338, 340

Tap-hole 85

INDEX

537

PAGE

Tap-root 151

Tar for wounds 109

Thinning the fruit 174

Thomas, quoted 391

Thomson, quoted 365

Tools 297

Top, form of , 193

Top-worked trees 263

Training, specific modes 341

Transplanting, root-pruning at.. 232

Trellis, for grapes 416

Trunk, expansion of 76

Twisting 167

Tying grapes 426

Umbrella training 469

Upright grape training 436

Van Dusen, H. P., quoted 469

Vase 356

Veitch, quoted 384

Viburnum 340

Vines, grafting 492

Vineyard, layout of 424

Vinifera grape training 494

Vitis vinif era 494

Walker, E., quoted 137, 336

Walls for fruits 348

Walnut, fruit-bearing 72, 75

— Japanese 103

Warneken, quoted 376

PAGE

Washington 187, 216

Waters' pruner 301

Watersprouts 155

Waugh, quoted 483

Wax for wounds 109

— recipe for 119

Weeping of Tines 413

Weigela 340

When to prune 102, 181, 189

Whitf ord, Leroy , quoted 121

Why we prune 135

Wickson, quoted 200, 315, 494,

509, 516

Williams, H. S., quoted 147

Willow, Kilmarnock 269

Willows, for tying 427

— fruit-bearing 71

Winter-injured trees 141

Winter-killed buds 73

Wire, for tying 428

— for vineyards 419

Wire-stretchers 420

Wisconsin 144, 146

Wool twine, for tying 427

Wound, how to make 99, 114

— nature of 82

Yeomans, on pruning 221, 272

Young trees, trimming 205

Hurat Srtents Serfes.

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have some love for growing things. « Every family can have a
garden. If there is not a foot of land, there are porches or win-
dows. Wherever there is sunlight, plants may be made to grow;
and one plant in a tin-can may be a more helpful and inspiring
garden to some mind than a whole acre of lawn and flowers may
be to another." Thus Professor Bailey introduces his subject, and
the book which follows is one to instruct, inspire, edify and edu-
cate the reader, if he can raise his eyes from city cobble-stones!
It tells of ornamental gardening of any range, with lists of trees
and shrubs most suitable for various effects ; treats of fruits and
of vegetables for home use, and gives the word of instruction so
often wanted, but hitherto unattainable in any one simple and com-
pact book. No modern American work covers this important field.
The illustrations are copious and beautiful.

GARDEN-MAKING includes General Advice; the Plan of the Place
(The Picture in the Landscape, How to make the improvements,
etc. ) ; Planting the Ornamental Grounds ; The Fruit Plantation ;
The Vegetable Garden; Seasonal Reminders (Calendars for North
and for the South).

hg Trrrfessm:

Not included in either of the foregoing series.

THE SURVIVAL OF THE UNLIKE ; A coiiee-

tion of

Evolution Essays Suggested by the Study of Domestic

Plants. Second edition. $2.00

This is an illustrated volume of 515 pages by Professor Bailey.

containing an immense amount of fact, experiment and philosophy

irg frsfessnr

THE SURVIVAL OF THE UNLIKE-Continued.

respecting the evolution of plants, and particularly of their modi-
fication under cultivation. It is the most thoroiigh discussion of
the running-out of varieties, acclimatization, and the like. It is,
in fact, the only book which can be called a philosophy of horti-
culture. Jt comprises thirty essays, as follows: The Survival of
the Unlike ; Neo-Lamarckism and Nee-Darwinism; The Plant
Individual in the Light of Evolution, or The Philosophy of Bud-
Variation, and its Bearing upon Weismannism ; Experimental
Evolution amongst Plants ; Van Mons and Knight, and the Pro-
duction of Varieties ; Some Bearings of the Evolution-Teaching
upon Plant-Cultivation ; Why Have our Enemies Increased J ;.
Coxey's Army and the Russian Thistle, or a Sketch of the Philos-
ophy of Weediness ; Recent Progress in American Horticulture;
On the Supposed Correlations of Quality in Fruits; The Natural
History of Synonyms; Reflective Impressions of the Nursery
Business ; The Relation of Seed-Bearing to Cultivation ; Variation
after Birth ; A Pomological Alliance ; Sketch of the Relationship
between American and Eastern Asian Fruits ; Horticultural Geo-
graphy ; Some Emphatic Problems of Climate and Plants, Com-
prising "Speculative Notes upon Phenology (the Physiological
Constant, and the Climatal Modification of Phenological Phenom-
ena)," and "Some Interrelations of Climatology and Horticul-
ture "; Are American Fruits Best Adapted to American Conditions? ;
Acclimatization : Does it Occur ? ; On the Longevity of Apple
Trees ; Sex in Fruits ; Are Novelties Worth their Cost ? ; Why
do Promising Varieties Fail ? ; Reflections upon the Longevity of
Varieties, comprising "Do Varieties Run Out?" "Ai%e the Varieties
of Orchard Fruits Running Out ?"" Studies in the Longevity of
the Varieties of Tomatoes"; Whence Came the Cultivated Straw-
berry?; The Battle of the Plums; The Evolution of American
Grapes ; The Progress of the Carnation, comprising "Types and
Tendencies in the Carnation," "John Thorpe's Ideal Carnation,"
and "Border Carnations"; Evolution of the Petunia ; The Amelio-
ration of the Garden Tomato, comprising « The Origin of the
Tomato from a Morphological Standpoint," "History of the Trophy
Tomato," "The Probable Course of Evolution of the Tomato," and
" Direction of Contemporaneous Improvement of the Tomato " ;
Glossary.

" Whatever Professor Bailey writes is interesting reading. He has the rare
gift of an entertaining style, and what he writes people want to read. All his
previous books have be«ni widely read, and this will prove no exception to the
well-established rule. The secret of this popularity, if there be any secret about
it, is that when he writes he has something new to say,— something based
upon experiences and observations. These are by no means all his own, for
he has the ability to see with the eyes of other people, as well as with his
own. He is thus able to bring into his pages a rich mass of new matter, which
gives them aditiomil interest and value." PROFESSOR C. E. BESSEY,

University of Nebraska, in " Science."

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

66 Fifth Avenue, NEW YORK

Announcement of Important
Horticultural Books.

In addition to the volumes extending the Rural
Science Series, as given on a previous page, the fol-
lowing important works are in preparation:

THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS. A com-

panion volume to " The Survival of the Unlike," and written
on the same original lines, by PROFESSOR L. H. BAILEY. It
will be copiously illustrated, and is now on the press.

A TEXT BOOK OF AGRICULTURE FOR SCHOOL USE.

Designed to supply a practical and efficient statement of the
Elements of Agricultural Science. By PROFESSOR L. H.
BAILEY.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HORTICULTURE. To

be published in three large illustrated volumes, dated 1900.
This work will be the first comprehensive and adequate pre-
sentation of American horticulture in its widest sense, and
under the editorial supervision of Professor Bailey will con-
tain signed articles by eminent specialists on various topics,
arranged alphabetically. The illustrations may be expected
to excel in beauty and accuracy any found in horticultural
literature to-day; they are being now prepared by artists of
ability, upon a consistent plan. The typography and binding
will be likewise of high grade, befitting a work of inter-
national importance.

8^* Inquiry is solicited concerning terms of publication, etc.,
of this work. Address

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

66 Fifth Ave.

NEW YORK.

THIS* BOOK ON
WILL INCREASE TO
DAY AND TO $l-r
OVERDUE.

SEVENTH DAY

LD 2l-50f»-8,'82

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Full text of "The pruning-book. A monograph of the pruning and training of plants as applied to American conditions"

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