FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT. 41 



upright. These habits, however, can be more or less controlled by 

 subsequent pruning, but you cannot correct all of them any more than 

 you can abolish all the bad habits of boys. 



With standard apples and pears the lowest limb should not be lower 

 than two or two and a half nor more than three or three and a half 

 feet from the ground. The rest of the limbs — the four or five limbs 

 forming the head of the tree should be distributed from twelve to 

 fifteen or twenty inches along the trunk. 



As far as possible avoid crotches. If you have less than four limbs 

 — only two or three — I will defy any of you to make a tree that will 

 not have a crotch and thus be liable to break down sometime when the 

 limbs are loaded with an excessive crop. If you have four or five 

 limbs on the trunk and well distributed, you will find that it will stand 

 the force of a much stronger wind and hold up much more fruit. 



I said I like the head distributed along the trunk about one to one 

 and one-half feet. With the one-year-old peach trees, etc., generally 

 received from nursery men, it is difficult to do this. In this specimen 

 which I show you here, the limbs are branched and crotches cannot 

 be avoided. This is not an uncommon condition for the reason that 

 most of our nursery trees are so apt to be headed like this. (Illus- 

 trating.) Having the limbs branched, and for this reason a great 

 many growers are prefering to get one-year-old apple and pear trees 

 that are nearly a whip, also sweet cherry trees and plums, because they 

 can control distribution of the head of the trees and better avoid 

 crotches. The most of us would prefer to have the head start in two 

 and a half feet to three feet from the ground. 



In this specimen which I showed you the arrangement is better. 



Mr. Wilde— Could you not cut off all the limbs? 



Answer — Perhaps it would be all right, "but I would prefer to have 

 one-vear-old trees mere whips they are, at one-half the price than do 

 that. 



Now about pruning this tree. Cut off the limbs so that it will balance 

 up the tree. In digging trees the nursery man cuts one-half to three- 

 quarters of the root system off, especially in two-year-old trees. Here 

 is where we can govern as to whether this will be a compact or an 

 open headed tree. Sometimes we cut the limbs in this manner (illus- 

 trating) but I maintain that we should select the place where to leave 

 the top bud. If the end bud is alive and healthy that will develop 

 the strongest growing shoot. If the end bud is weak or injured, the next 

 bud lower down will develop the strongest growing shoot. With trees 

 that naturally grow up like Spies or Sutton Beauty, the end or top 

 bud should always be on the outside if possible, but with such as the 

 Greening and the Tolman Sweet — leave the end bud inside or on the 

 side. Cut off the limbs about one-fourth inch beyond the buds. If a 

 longer stub is left, decay may start in. If we cut too short then the 

 bud is liable to be injured. 



Many would cut it off two and one-half feet high, but that makes 

 the head lower, too low, for you want the lower limbs to be fully that 

 high, so you can cut off higher up, allowing room for a well distributed 

 head. 



A member — How deep would you set that tree? 



