EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



365 



longer thau the other, will eiu-ourage the loii»>er one to become a leader or 

 main branch, and the other will eventually become a lateral or side branch. 

 The crotch is strengthened and splitting in later years is avoided. 



Long Pruiiiiif/ — Kecently tlie attention of some frnit growers has been 

 directed to a kind of pruning, very popular in California, known as "long 



Figure 3. A portion of an unpruned apple tree showing 

 growth response near the places where heavy cuts were for- 

 merly niade. Note that several branches have developed from 

 the vicinity of cuts made in past years near the crosses. Some 

 of the growths should have been thinned out one year after the 

 heavy heading. 



pruning," and it may be well to state briefly the meaning of this term. Prun- 

 ing as commonly practiced on the Pacific Coast, until quite recently, con- 

 sisted of some thinning-out and a very heavy heading back (removal of 50 

 to 75 per cent of each new branch) of the new growth each year. This re- 

 sulted in devotion by the trees of too large a part of their energies to the 

 growth of long shoots and not enough to fruit production, and the fruiting 

 wood on the interior portions of the trees was often shaded out by the dense 



