374 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



a very severe pruning, and, while it may result in a very well formed tree, 

 fruit production is unnecessarily delayed. 



On the other hand, some fruit growers would not touch apple trees with 

 pruning tools after the pruning following the first year's growth in the or- 

 chard until they have established the bearing habit. Such a treatment leads 

 to early bearing, but strength of framework is sacrificed in many cases. 

 Then there are other growers who take various stands intermediate between 

 these two extremes. The writer believes that the fruit grower can afford to 

 sacrifice neither early fruit production nor strength of framework. 



Apple trees which are expected to be comparatively short-lived, such as 

 those planted as fillers (trees which are to remain in the orchard for some 15 

 to 25 years and then be removed to make room for the permanent trees) are 

 best grown from the time the trees are one-year-old (from date of planting in 

 the orchard) until after they are bearing well without any pruning except 

 the occasional removal or cutting back of decidedly ill-placed or very way- 

 ward branches. Such a treatment will encourage much earlier fruit produc- 

 tion. The trees will undoubtedly be poorly shaped and crowded, and some 

 may be ruined by breakage after they reach bearing age. Heavier pruning 

 may be practiced after these trees come into bearing, thus partially correcting 

 some of the faulty growths. 



The above practice is not a wise course to follow in training young trees 

 that are expected to stand in the orchard for 60, 80 or more years. Such 

 trees should have very high valuations when thirty or more years old, and any 

 breaking down of trees at such times, because of faulty training in early life, 

 will mean heavy financial loss. Thus the training of a young apple tree 

 might be compared to the building of a foundation for a building. If the 

 building is small and of a temporary nature, less importance is attached to 

 the construction of the foundation than if it is to be a large building that is 

 expected to serve for a half century or more. 



Thus it would appear that moderate or light pruning should be given apple 

 trees until after a substantial framework has been developed, when the prun- 

 ing should become very light in character. In kind, this pruning should be 

 for the most part a thinning out, under Michigan conditions. In other words, 

 all of the longer growths should be removed following the first two or possibly 

 three seasons' growth, except those branches selected to form the framework. 

 Cutting back during these two or three years should usually be very light and 

 should be done more with the idea of establishing a proper balance between 

 the parts of the tree. 



Spurs and other short growths in the middle of the tree and along the main 

 branches should not be cut out, as such wood fruits early and tends to main- 

 tain an even distribution of fruiting wood throughout the tree — the ideal 

 fruit condition. 



