Prune

“ As these to-day are our leading varieties and of considerable importance and great promise in the future commercially, they seem to deserve some historical record. The prune, as before stated was introduced in 1847 by Henderson Luelling of Iowa. Our little German prune—Luelling prune—is the true German prune, a native of the Rhine, propagated from the seed, and cultivated more extensively in Germany and over the continent of Europe than any other fruit, and is the "butter" and the condiment of the peasantry and a principal source of revenue. ”

“ A well cured prune is soft and spongy, the pit is loose but does not rattle, the skin is bright, the product is free from drippings or exudation, the flesh is meaty, elastic, and of a bright, lively color. ”

“ Prune hardy kinds in the Spring, by cutting out all dead or superfluous branches, regulating the remainder at an equal distance apart, when they are nailed with shreds of woollen or leather, or tied up neatly. In summer, prune so that the branches may not be too thickly crowded. ”

“ We prune our plants for the most opposite purposes; we prune to make them assume some desired form, we prune to produce symmetry, and we prune to torture them as much [253] as possible from their natural habit. Again, we prune to make them grow vigorously, and we perform other pruning operations, in order to dwarf and stunt our specimens, and to make them as diminutive as possible. The experienced orchardist will tell you to prune a barren but thrifty tree, in order to make it productive of fruit ”

“ In pruning we have to keep two objects ever in view. In the first place we must prune in order to get rid of all dead wood, and weak, unripe and useless shoots, thus enabling the young healthy wood to take their place. And secondly we must prune so as to keep the plant in good shape and good health, by cutting back the strong and healthy wood we leave to a suitable length.
If the winter has been mild, we shall find many buds on the upper part of strong shoots of last year's growth, which are already bursting into leaf and even showing a flower bud. ”

“ The prunes we buy are dried plums. For a century or two France has led all countries in the prune industry. Now California leads. The kinds of plums that can be dried are sweet and fleshy. Ordinary juicy plums cannot be made into prunes. ”

“ Prune—Pitted stewed prunes in quarters, flour, salt and a little sugar. Do not make filling too thick as it is solid. Two crusts. Delicious.
Prune—Thick prune pulp, slightly sweetened or not, one crust, strips of pastry over top if convenient. May have meringue with or without grated lemon rind, or may be covered with whipped cream after cutting.
Raisin—1 cup chopped raisins, 1 cup water, 1⁄2 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespn. flour. Mix sugar and flour, pour boiling water over, boil up well, add raisins, cool, bake between two crusts. Vanilla or lemon flavoring may be used. ”

“ About 1870 there was much talk and speculation about prunes and prune growing as a business, for and against, those favoring showing facts and figures, those against claiming that our prunes were not the true German and Italian prunes, and that the prune in this country would, as they had in Eastern States, degenerate into a worthless, watery plum not fit for drying, and, at any rate, that the curculio would soon come and destroy them. Solid business men considered the prune business a visionary scheme, not worthy a serious consideration. ”

“ Perhaps it is best to prune fruit-trees in March or April, but grapes and currants and gooseberries may be pruned now. January and February are good months in which to prune peach trees. Thin out the peach trees well, taking care to remove all the dead wood. If you have much pruning to do in apple, pear, or plum orchards, you will save time by utilizing the warm days now. Study well the different methods of pruning. Never let an itinerant pruner touch your trees until you are satisfied that he understands his business. ”

“ Pruning may still be performed. Those who are raising young orchards ought not to prune at any particular time between May and August, but all along the season, as the tree needs it. If a bad branch is forming, take it out while it is small; if too many are starting, rub them out while so tender as to be managed without a knife and by the fingers. ”

“ Prune so as to obtain the quantity of fruit desired on the smallest number of shoots possible.
4327. Never prune in frosty weather, nor when a frost is expected.
4328. Never prune in the months of March, April, or May; pruning in either of these months causes bleeding, and occasions thereby a wasteful and injurious expenditure of sap.
4329. Let the general autumnal pruning take place as soon after the 1st of October as the gathering of the fruit will permit. Lastly. Use a prying-knife of the best description; and let it be, if possible, as sharp as a razor. ”

“ Pruning is one of the most important operations that we perform upon plants,—especially woody plants. Pruning, in some sort, has to be performed at all periods of their existence and growth, and upon all plants, from the noble forest tree, or the fruit trees of the orchard, of [252] whatever kind, to the humble bushes and brambles that yield us their abundant and most welcome fruits: the trailing vine that adorns our arbors and covers our trellises with its rich and tempting clusters of grapes, also needs to be pruned. ”

“ The spring is the time of the year in which to do the pruning of all kinds of plants, vines, and shrubs, that are out of doors, as they are then dormant. Some prefer to prune grape vines in the fall, just after they have ripened and shed their leaves. We think it unsafe to prune anything too severely in the fall, especially the grape vine. ”

“ The art of pruning properly is one that is acquired by considerable practice and observation. The first is necessary that the actual work may be well and cleanly done, and it is only by observing the manner and times of flowering of the different trees and shrubs which go to constitute a well-kept pleasure-ground that the proper time to prune can be thoroughly understood. ”

“ If its pruning were done with an eye to the symmetry of the tree we would not object to its increase, but when we find it only consults its own convenience, and prunes off limbs that are loaded with fruit, we decidedly place it among the enemies of the fruit grower. ”

“ Trees which are pruned, never attain the size and strength of those, the branches of which grow old with them, because, by pruning of so much of the wood, a larger proportion of the sap is forced into the fruit, than would naturally flow to it. ”

“ The fruit is a little too tart to be ranked as a first-rate dessert plum and yet it is one of the best of the prunes for this purpose, though it must be fully ripe to be fit for dessert; in cooking it changes to a dark, wine color, very attractive in appearance, with a most pleasant, sprightly flavor; as a cured prune the flesh is firm and meaty, yet elastic, of good color and a perfect freestone, making when cooked the same attractive looking, fine-flavored, sprightly sauce to be had from the green fruits; the prunes from this variety, too, are noted for long-keeping. ”

“ Fruit earlier than Italian Prune; about one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish, compressed, halves equal; cavity very shallow, abrupt, narrow, regular; suture shallow; apex roundish, with a slight depression at the pistil-point; color dark purplish-black, with thick bloom; dots small, russet, somewhat conspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem five-eighths inch long, sparingly pubescent, parting readily from the fruit; skin thick, tough, sour, adhering but little; flesh attractive yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, pleasant flavor; very good ”

“ The pruner should know the flower-bearing habit of the plant that he prunes,—whether the bloom is on the shoots of last season or on the new wood of the present season, and whether the flower-buds of spring-blooming plants are separate from the leaf-buds. ”

“ Some of the technicalities come from European practices, and others originated in the infancy of grape-growing in this country when there was great diversity in pruning. Divested of much that is but jargon, an inexperienced man can easily learn in a few lessons, from word of mouth or printed page, how to prune grapes. ”

“ Well-pruned trees allow of an even distribution and uniform development of the fruit. Watersprouts and suckers should be removed as soon as they are discovered. How open the top may be, will depend on the climate. In the West, open trees suffer from sun-scald.
The fruit-bearing habit of the fruit-tree must be considered in the pruning. The pruner should be able to distinguish fruit-buds from leaf-buds in such species as cherries, plums, apricot, peach, pear, apple, and so prune as to spare these buds or to thin them understandingly. ”

“ In pruning his trees the inexperienced fruit grower often finds a difficulty in distinguishing the fruit buds from the leaf buds, and he may discover when too late that he has cut away all his leaf buds instead of those he should have pruned. ”

“ If a low tree is desired to make fruit-gathering easy pruning keeps the head down. An open, spreading habit may be encouraged by cutting out such branches as tend to grow close to the main trunk. A careful orchardist has an ideal in his mind and knows how to prune to bring the tree up to his standard. ”

“ Among the fruits the most important is the prune. The growing, drying and packing of the Italian prunes for the eastern market is an important industry. From 200 to 300 carloads of the dried product are shipped out of the county every year. ”

“ The gardener prunes the vine that it may bring forth more fruit. He cuts off useless branches that others may replace them, stronger and fresher; and the pruning is to be forgotten in the ripening clusters that are gathered in consequence of it. ”

“ I planted a thousand of these trees in a new orchard, and took great pains with the pruning myself, for it was curious that in that land of fruit at the time no professional pruner could be found. I sought the advice of a market-gardener and plum-grower, who, in the early stage of their growth, gave me an object-lesson, cutting back the young shoots rather hard to induce them to throw out more at the point of incision, so as to produce eventually a fuller head ”

“ This system of pruning, with reference both to the barren and the fruitful branches, must be continued, whilst these continue in a vigorous and healthy condition; but when any symptoms of decay or of expended powers, are perceived, they should be pruned quite away, and young ones encouraged in their stead. ”

“ The judicious pruner, being well aware of the upward tendency of young growth, and that this is increased by the crowded condition of the trees in the nursery square, seeks to overcome the evil by proper pruning. If the growth be altogether upward, with no side branches the first season, the stem will be slender, often so much so as to bend over with its own weight. ”

“ In resuscitating old neglected apple-trees, rigorous pruning may be combined with plowing and manuring of the ground. For covering wounds made in pruning, nothing is better than common grafting wax laid on warm with a brush.' Hon P. T. Quinn, in his work on 'Pear Culture,' writes: 'On our own place we begin to prune our pear-trees from the 1st to the 15th of March, and go on with the work through April. It is not best to do much cutting, except on very young trees, while the foliage is coming out.'"
"Well," remarked Leonard, "I can go to work to-morrow with entire content ”

“ In pruning, the first step is to remove all weak or dead wood, and any unwanted branches that cross unattractively or perhaps go off in the wrong direction. Then, you decide whether more branches should be pruned away—to reveal the basic form of the tree in general or the trunk in particular; to lighten the over-all effect; to help create the desired symmetrical or asymmetrical shape. If the plant has been root-pruned, the top should be pruned proportionally. ”

“ No matter what the tree is, the poplar of France, or the brookside willow or oak coppice of England, or the chestnuts or mulberries of Italy, all are interesting when being pruned, or when pruned just lately. ”

“ Varieties which branch freely need little pruning; those having few and unbranching limbs should be pruned closely.
In cool, damp climates, trees produce much wood and need little pruning; in hot dry climates, growth is scant and trees need much pruning. ”

“ Species? Letter from Kerr.
Originated by Theodore Williams, Benson, Nebraska.
Prof. Wittmack. Insititia? × Domestica? 1. Gard. Chron. 3:364. 1888.
The parentage of this variety is not definitely known but it is thought to be a Mirabelle crossed with Italian Prune; grown by Herr Ulhorn, Grevenbroich, Lower Rhenish Prussia. A sweet plum of the prune type; freestone; good for either dessert or drying.
Pruneau. Species? 1. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 117. 1875.
Reported from Quebec, Canada, in 1875; commonly grown from suckers.
Prune d’Agen Double. Domestica. Mentioned in Mathieu Nom. Pom. 420. 1889. ”

“ The prunes which we import from France are the dried fruit of varieties of the plum which contain a sufficient quantity of sugar to preserve the fruit from decay."
"Do prunes really grow on trees, Miss Harson?" asked Edith, who was rather disposed to think that they grew in pretty boxes.
"Yes, dear," was the reply; "they grow just as our plums do, only they are dried and packed in layers before they reach this country. We have two species of wild plum in North America--the beach-plum, a low shrub found in New England, the fruit of which is dark blue and about the size of damsons ”