104 State Horliciiltnnil Society. 



is to have upon the tree. For example, if a tree is too dense, thinning' 

 out a judicious number of its twigs to admit sunlight may be beneficial; 

 on the other h^nd if this thinning out is so severe as to admit too much 

 sunlight the prunning becomes injurious. In low ground and in a foggy 

 climate very low heads which shade the ground, thus keeping it moist, 

 favor the development of injurious fwngi, while in a sunny, windy 

 bleak region low heads may be just the thing. An upright grower like 

 Clayton should be headed lower than a spreading or drooping variety 

 !ike Huntsman. A tree which naturally makes a thick, dense head, like 

 Rome Beauty, may need to have a few of its branches thinned out when 

 an open, straggling grower like Alinkler may not have limbs enough for 

 its best protection from the sunlight. The parts of the trees with ref- 

 erence to the sun's rays should also be considered. It may be advisable 

 to shorten or to remove limbs from the north side of a tree when to re- 

 move a similar amount of wood from the sunny side might let in so 

 much sunlight as to cause serious injury from sunscald. 



But let us proceed to some of the practical details. Once a tree is 

 well headed in the nursery it is not advisable to attempt to change the 

 height of the head. It is better to leave it too high or too low than to 

 attempt to re-establish the system of branches. Severely cutting an apple 

 tree back to induce main limbs to form lower down is generally useless, 

 while cutting oft main limbs to secure a higher growth is in this climate 

 alwavs dangerous. 



A straight trunk, or central leader should be secured and maintained. 

 Tliis may be accomplished by shortening any branches that tend to 

 outgrow the main trunk. -If a fork forms in this main trunk it ma}" be 

 corrected by cutting ofif one side of the fork to a short spur, the next 

 winter after it forces. At this young age the spur will contain active 

 buds which will throw out side branches next spring in place of the 

 fork. Forked trees may grow all right until they come into bearing, 

 but the forks are liable to split and ruin the tree as soon as it is loaded 

 with fruit. It is better to remove one side of such a fork while it is 

 young than to delay. Removing large limbs should ahvays be avoided. 



In this climate young trees are liable to lean away from the sun, 

 toward the north or east. The best way to keep them straght is not to 

 set them so they lean toward the sun but to keep them in balance by 

 winter pruning. It will be observed that the limbs on the north side 

 tend to grow faster than those on the sunny side. In some varieties the 

 southern limbs turn toward the trunk of the tree, away from the intense 

 sunlight, while the northern limbs spread well out away from the body 

 of the tree. Shortening the limbs en the north side equalizes the weight 

 of the head of the tree so it will not tip to the north. In correcting 



