FRUIT GROWING FOR HOME USE IN THE GREAT PLAINS. 17 



in a tree top, and consequently the more foliage there is, the greater 

 the amount of moisture that is taken up from the soil and passed off 

 through the leaves into the atmosphere. 



Two very strong reasons are thus indicated why fruit trees should 

 be thoroughly and systematically pruned: (1) It results in the pro- 

 duction of better fruit and in many cases more of it. (2) It is a 

 factor in conserving the soil moisture. This is always of great impor- 

 tance in this region. 



There is a great difference in different kinds of fruit trees and even 

 in different varieties of the same kind with regard to the amount of 

 pruning that is nec- 

 essary or desirable, 

 some requiring very 

 severe treatment, 

 while others call for 

 very little. But 

 witli the underlying 

 principles in mind 

 the application of 

 them is not difl&cult. 

 Reference to the ac- 

 companying illus- 

 trations will be sug- 

 gestive in regard to 

 this operation. 

 Figure 4 shows a 

 peach tree about 

 four years old that 

 stands in a yard in 

 Plainview,Tex. It 



is low headed, its I'lo- 4.— a well-formed peach tree about four years oUl, riamview, Xex. 



branches are not too numerous, and in general it may be considered 

 a well-formed, well-pruned tree. 



Figure 5<* is a Ben Davis apple tree that stands in a dry-land orchard 

 about IS miles southeast of Denver, Colo. This tree has not been 

 allowed to develop a top that is too dense, and in other respects it is 

 desirable as to form. 



The trees shown in figure 2 also are headed low and have other de- 

 sirable features, but the tops should be tliinned out somewhat to make 

 them more open. 



« The owner of the orchard in which the tree shown in figure 5 is located has a 

 field of alfalfa on a creek bottom that passes through his ranch. He was irrigating 

 this alfalfa at the time the photograph was taken. This is why he was wearing rub- 

 ber boots. The orchard has never been irrigated. The roots of this tree probably 

 do not reach the water table. 

 [Cir. .51] 



