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BETTER FRUIT 



Page 29 



not result in such a complete check to 

 new-shoot growth, for the stub left is 

 very apt to produce new shoots, or 

 watersprouts, from dormant or adventi- 

 tious buds. These watersprouts may 

 fall short of, or may exceed in amount, 

 depending upon conditions, the shoot 

 growth that normally would have been 

 produced from the new wood (shoot 

 growth) of the headed limb. On the 

 other hand, thinning of older wood is 

 not apt to stimulate the production of 

 such new*-shoot growth. 



It is evident that a thinning of two- 

 year-old or older limbs will result in 

 admitting to the interior of the tree a 

 larger amount of light than would re- 

 sult from a heading of the same limbs. 

 Heading-back into two-year-old or 

 older wood may operate to let a larger 

 amount of light into the tree than 

 would be able to enter were no pruning 

 afforded, but it is plain that it opens up 

 a tree to a much less extent than a cor- 

 responding thinning. This being true, 

 it is reasonable to expect the fruit spurs 

 left in the tree to respond much more 

 directly to a thinning than to a heading 

 of the older limbs. Naturally this re- 

 sponse is found in increased vigor and 

 in greater fruit-bud formation. Fur- 

 thermore, the fruits that develop in the 

 interior of the tree will be better col- 

 ored on account of their better supply 

 of light. 



Application to Pruning Practice 

 From what has been said it might be 

 inferred that thinning only is to be rec- 

 ommended, because thinning exerts a 

 much more favorable influence than 

 heading upon the production of fruit 

 spurs and fruit buds and upon the col- 

 orling of the fruit. However, these are 

 not the only things in which the grower 

 is interested. There are many other 

 features of tree growth that must be 

 given proper consideration. It is pos- 

 sible that at least some kinds of thin- 

 ning might be carried to such an ex- 

 treme that the result would be a very 

 "rangy" tree, a tree unable to support 

 its fruit without an undue amount of 

 propping. Here is where attention must 

 be given to the matter of training — to 

 the question of form or shape. 



Nevertheless, the principles that have 

 been brought out have a bearing upon 

 pruning practice; and they must be kept 

 in mind constantly if the best possible 

 results are to be obtained. Some trees, 

 particularly those just coming into 

 bearing, trees from four to eight years 

 of age, have too few fruit spurs to bear 

 the size of crop they could easily carry. 

 With them the method of pruning to 

 employ is one that will develop quickly 

 an adequate fruit-spur system. Other 

 trees, young or old, possess enough 

 spurs for heavy fruit production, but 

 they are weak and vegetative. They do 

 not produce fruit buds and flowers. 

 With them the pruning treatment should 

 be such as will invigorate and make 

 more productive the spurs that they 

 possess. Still other trees, generally 

 those that have been in bearing a num- 

 ber of years, have too many fruit 

 spurs — more than they can care for 

 properly. These spurs rob each other 

 of food and water and, more especially, 



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