The Apple in Oregon. 147 



ones, and especially those well in toward the center, start last and stop 

 first. The growth Impulse gradually weakens in these inner twigs 

 and shoots and many of them yield to their fellow branches on the 

 outside. This process even goes to such an extent that many buds upon 

 the inner and lower branches fail to develop into shoots at all, and 

 still further, the lower buds upon a thrifty growing outside shoot often 

 remain dormant. Thus it is that, practically, only the later formed 

 buds of a season are the ones that develop into new parts. Another 

 of the active influences in the tree's growth is the water and mineral 

 matter supplied by the roots. This supply as it is forced or drawn 

 upward through the tissues of the stems and branches, endeavors to 

 follow the lines of least resistance. Usually a straight line oifers 

 the best course; hence, we commonly see the erect, straight branches 

 or shoots growing fastest, and we come to think of the chief growth 

 of a tree as being upward and outward. If the tree is crowded by 

 its fellows, its lateral light relations will be poor, and accordingly 

 growth will be chiefly upward. 



All this results in what amounts to being a struggle for existence. 

 Every bud and branch is using its best effort to get the best light 

 and food supply. Some must yield by either becoming dormant or 

 dying after a brief existence. This is nature's way of pruning. We 

 See splendid examples of the process in thickets of young firs, and in 

 the dense tops of old maples or evergreens. The lessons that nature 

 would have us learn from these examples are that pruning should be 

 such as to remove those shoots which are not in position to do the 

 best ultimate Service; that the removal of some branches is necessary 

 to the best development of others; that thinning of the wood growth 

 is necesary because more buds are formed and more twigs are started 

 than can find light and space for successful development; that the 

 judicious removal of undesirable or poorly located shoots in their earliest 

 stages of growth, is economy of labor- and material (plant energy). 



Hence, remove undesirable wood, as far as possible, while it is small. 

 This does not imply that large branches may not be taken off whenever 

 found to be undesirable, but it does imply th^t such removal means a 

 greater loss of the plant's energy. This view of pruning and training 

 calls for a füll knowledge of the individual types of trees, their charac- 

 teristic forms of growth, and a comprehensive understanding of the 

 requirements of economic plant culture. 



If a young apple tree has been received from the nursery as a 

 "switch" or "stick" one year old, there will be little pruning to be 

 done at the time of planting out, save cutting back the top to correspond 

 with the loss of root System made necessary by removal from the nursery 

 row, and the trimming of wounded roots. Should the tree to be planted 

 be of two or more years, as is too frequently recommended by nursery- 

 men and dealers, then the whole top should be removed to such an 

 extent as will correspond with the amount of roots cut away. 



The writer recommends only one-year-old trees for general trans- 

 planting. A one-year-old tree is small; it does not suffer so severe 

 a check upon removal from the nursery as an older tree. Less cutting 

 back, relatively, is necessary at setting out. The wounds made are 

 smaller and accordingly heal over more readily, allowing less opportunity 

 for attack by injurious fungi. 



All Operations save tillage are benefited by the formation of low 

 heads. As the growers of Eastern Oregon remark: " We like to work 

 on the ground floor, for it facilitates the work of picking and thinning": 

 while in sections where heavy winds prevail much less loss of fruit 

 occurs in orchards of low headed trees, and the trees themselves are 

 of better form, thus requiring less attention and labor in pruning. 



