Summer Pruning.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 127, 1 February 1909, Page 3

Summer Pruning.

The old adage, "Prune in winter for wood and in summer for fruit," states succintly the object of keeping back growth in the summer months. Fruit trees will get along well enough with only the winter pruning, which, if properly done, will secure a suitable arrangement of the branches, and cause them to be sufficiently covered with leaves and to bear good crops of fruit. JBut in practice it is more economical to prune both in winter and in summer, and the results are surer. Growth can be contolled more effectually when a tree is attended to twice a year than when only one pruning is given, and the work of the year is more evenly distributed. Futhermore, summer pruning prevents waste of energy on the part of the tree, and thus increases its fruitfulness. , The ends to be kept in view are the promotion of fruitspur formation, the removal of useless wood to check growth where it is not needed and to direct the vigour of the tree in some other direction, and the maintenance of an even, systematic development. Where branches are well spaced and far apart, little or no interference is needed in summer, because exposure in the hot weather is bad, not only for the fruit, which,, when not well' shaded by leaves, will scorch and shrivel up, but also for the bark, the burning which the tree receives tending to devitalise the sap, and thus to decrease its production and its life. Summer pruning is needed where the trees are strong and the branches which constitute its framework are crowded with offshoots which prevent the free circulation of air and light, and thus retard or prevent fruit development. In a good season trees which are favourably situated will grow very vigorously, and the surplus wood thus formed must eventually be removed. If taken away in the summer months there is so much less to be done in the following winter, and the further advantage is gained that the tree is prevented from expending its strength to no purpose, and the energy thus saved is turned to the production of- finer fruit and ensures a better crop. In summer and in winter, the manner and time of pruning must depend on the nature of the, season, the posi<tion and,idiosyncrasies -o£ the trees to be handled and the importance of the other work in hand. No fixed rule can be laid down for any district or for any orchard; every grower must in this, as in so many of his operations, act on his own discretion in the practical application of general principles. In the early summer months unnecessary buds and shoots should be rubbed off, and a little later, according to the vigour of the season's growth, a little more thinning can be done. This check in the hot months, by interfering with the circulation of the sap, forces the weak growths on the tree, and makes active fruit buds which would otherwise remain dormant; in short, throwing the vigour of the tree rather into the development of fruit than into the making of wood. As autumn comes on healthy trees make further growth, which again requires to be checked"; indeed late summer growth should be cut away, because it tends to injure the tree by preventing the proper development of the main crop of leaves and the branches from which they spring, and by weakening the sap, and thus hindering fruit development.