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STATE BOAiRD OF AGRICULTUiRE 



lower parts of the main scaffold branches to prevent blight from gaining an 

 entrance to the main framework. 



Because of the tendency for a pear tree, especially a young one, to send out 

 several shoots following the cutting back of a branch, thus resulting in a very 

 compact top requiring heavy thinning, it is advisable to confine the pruning 

 of three-year-old to seven- or eight-year-old trees very largely to a thinning- 

 out process. Such cutting back as is practiced should be light. After the 

 bearing habit seems well established, however, some cutting back in the tops 

 of the trees to keep them from becoming too high may be advisable. 



Figure 34. A five-year-old Kieffer pear before and after pruning. Note that the practice was 

 mostly thinning-out with a small amount of heading back to laterals at the base of two-year-old wood. 

 This tree was poorly headed. 



