ART OF PRUNING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5005, 26 July 1926, Page 3

ART OF PRUNING.

CORRECT CARE OF FRUIT TREES.

DEMONSTRATION AND LECTURE.

On. Friday afternoon Mr P. Everett, of the horticulture division, Department of Agriculture, gave an interesting demonstration and lecture on the art afl successful pruning of fruit trees. A number of people interested in the subject assembled at the orchard of Mr W. J. Ellis, Hill Street, Paeroa, where the proceedings- took place.

Selecting a Doherty apple tree upon which to demonstrate,. Mr Everett said that before commencing pruning it was necessary to decide upon the formation of the tree, and then act accordingly. In purchasing from a nursery a tree should not be less than two years old, and when planted out in its permanent position it should be headed tp from 21in ,to 24in high. The young tree should immediately s.end out a number of branches, of which it was desirable to retain not more than four.. The general idea of pruning was to make deciduous trees cup-shaped—hollow in the centra—and to cut them to a correct proportion and balance, otherwise they would become for the roots. Ih pruning a general principle tol apply was to cut back two-thirds of the growth of ■ wood made. The idea of cutting hard back was to allow the roots to catch up with the growth made above the ground. It was important when pruning a branch to cut at on near a bud pointing in the direction that it was desirable for the branch to grow, with the idea of obtaining a cup-shaped formation. It was a' difficult matter to acquire that shape if the leaders were allowed to grow vertically. To overcome a vertical growth the buds should be pruned back so that the ne.w branches were thrown, outwards or at an angle. If three branches were required the first year, and a big spread was desired, the bud above the one required for a leader should be pruned, and the following year the old stump could be removed. The ideal tree when at a height of 4tt to sft should not have more than from 12 to 18 leaders. All others should be pruned back. It was not desirable to expect fruit during the first three to four years of a tree’s life to get the best results, because if a young tree came into heavy bearing too early its growth became stunted later on. PRUNING FOR FRUIT. If pruning for commercial an. orchardist required to have some knowledge of the species- of particular fruit trees, the quality olf the soil, and the art of systematic pruning, because no two kinds of trees required pruning alike. It was also necessary to realise that the fruit was bigger and better the hearer it could be kept to the ma,in branch. , FRUITING SPURS. The method of distinguishing fruiting spurs was by careful observation, which would show that in most instances the buds were round and much larger than .the ileaff buds. The small stiff laterals, when shortened back invariably sent out fruiting buds on spurring varieties. It was desirable to thin out first, and leave all the spur leaders till last. This method would give a better idea what shape- the; tree would ultimately be on completion of pruning. One of the fine points in pruning was the correct formation of. the .tree. It was a fairly general practice to leave from 12 to 18 leaders, but experiments had proved that it was more advantageous when fOrjming a tree not to have more than eight main leaders, and then to select secondary leaders, which should be selected because they were prone tol grow more horizontally which was desirable.’ It would be found that almost inyari? ably main leaders grew vertically, and if not checked ultimately shaded the centre of the tree and prevented the wind and sunshine fropi reaching tthe centre. Passing to a Delicious apple tree, Mr Everett explained thia,t that variiety of apple did not spur readily, rand it was necessary to adopt different methods oif pruning to induce, the ; growth of fruiting spurs* If the tree ■was young and growing vigorously, iand it was desired to induce it to Shrow out fruiting spurs, the lateral branches shoulld not be cut back for at least a year. By checking the flow of sap spurs would l be induced to grow, and ultimately fruiting buds. It should be remembered to always shorten back main leaders to induce good growth and shapeliness. It might be necessary to postpone; shortening until a tree actualfly commenc- , ed to crop, but there was; no hard- and /fast rule laid down. If a tree was rstunted the nipping off of the; fruiting buds would help it, but if, on the -other hand, some fruit was wanted, the fruiting spurs near the top of the tree should be cut out, so that the fruit would be, borne only pin the lower branches. NECTARINES AND PEACHES. Passing on to a nectarine tree, Mr Everett said that the same rufle applied to pruning that species of fruit tree as to apples—aim at getting a cup-shaped tree. The method of pruning nectarines also applied to peach trees, but jt was necessary to have knowledge of the class of tree to be -dealt with. In many dlfl the stonefruit varieties it would be found that friiiting buds, had a tendency to fall -off in the wind. In some varieties ■and in some flocaMties this was par-, ticularly noticeable, and it could not Ibe accounted for. With stone-fruits It was desirable to keep the tree as flow as possible. The higher the tree was allowed to grow the smaller the fruit became. In peach and nectarine trees it would be found that fruiting buds always formed on the new wood each year. It was necessary to make a point of always cutting out all dead twigs- and mummified fruit, so -as to save- the chances of harbouring fungus and brown rott. PRUNING APRICOTS. The pruning of apricot trees was carried out similarly to. peaches and nectarines, but was not identical Brown rot, it was, found, attacked the

lower branches in apricots more than

the higher leaders, and it was necessary to encourage a tree tp grow high, and to prune accordingly. Mr Everett said he believed that better apricots were grown at Thames than anywhere else in the Dominion. At Thames the trees were allbjwed to grow very high, and this had considerably lessened the prevalence off brown -rot. There appeared to be no known cure for this fungus, disease, which threw out spores requiring a certain humidity to germinate them. After experiments ba,d been carried out in 17 large orchards; the bbring of apricot trees, filling with sheepdip and then plugging had proved to be useless for the checking of the disease. It was. necessary that all prunings, and diseased fruit shoufld be gathered up and burned. It was recorded that branches having brown rot had been buried in the ground for tour years, -and when brought to the surface again the spores were found to be alive and thriving. Brown rot was very infectious, and it had been found that an apricot affected with the disease on a tree would affect sound fruit by -rubbing against it and breaking the tissues. PRUNING OLD TREES.

The only method of dealing with old trees wa,s by renovation. Once a tree had gone past the profitable stage drastic pruning was necessary. The danger In cutting back old treesa risk of silver blight. This fungus disease gets in through a, •wound where a branch had been cut, and travels up through the sap. The best known remedy to prevent silver blight was by painting all wounds with Stockholm tar. This would certainly check the- blight, but it 1 did not always prevent it. GENERAL. An axiom for orchardists was winter pruning stimulated growth, while summer pruning retarded Aim at keeping trees, open, so as the wind could get to the centre, thereby lessening the chance of the disease, and making the ’ fruit a better colour. Cutting back a fruit tree would ensure its good health and profitable return.