Page 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



Noi'einhcr 



degree what system you shoultl use. 

 For example, we wouldn't grow the 

 Wagener ordinarily as an open type of 

 tree. It is rather an upright grower for 

 a few years, but later becomes a feeble 

 grower. On the other hand, we should 

 not think of growing varieties like the 

 Tompkins King or Northern Spy as 

 center trees. They shoot up too 

 straight, are too big and are too hard 

 to control. The Yellow Newtown is 

 too often pruned as a typical ojien tree, 

 and on licht soils becomes very weak 

 when twelve or fifteen years of age. 

 A modified leailer, or in some cases 

 even the old-fashioned leader, would be 

 better witli the Yellow Newtown. On 

 the other liand, on some very strong 

 loams, the Yellow Newtown can be 

 handled very satisfactorily when grown 

 as an open or globe-shaped tree, pro- 

 vided we take a little care in spacing 

 the branches carefully the first two or 

 three years. 



The Height of Head 



The height of head is only a relative 

 term. One man would say that thirty 

 inches was a low-headed tree; another 

 man would say that this was extremely 

 high. The Pacific Coast grows low- 

 headed trees. We have found by ex- 

 perience that these are the easiest to 

 care for, that they are the most eco- 

 nomical for thinning, harvesting, spray- 

 ing and pruning, and that we can shade 

 the trunks and main scaffold limbs bet- 

 ter with Ibis type of tree than with a 

 high-headed tree. In parts of the In- 

 land Empire they often head theii' tiees 

 very low, about eight or nine inches. 

 Many of the .lonathans in the Hocky 

 Mountain district, and in certain por- 

 tions of Idaho, Kastern Oregon and 

 \Vashington, are headed in this way 

 and are giving satisfactory results. 

 Under such conditions they must pro- 

 tect the trees as much as possible 



against sun scald. However, in \Vest- 

 ern Oregon we would consider 20 to 25 

 inches a better height of head. Many 

 growers have felt that about 20 to 25 

 inches is the proper height for apples 

 and pears. Peaches should be headed 

 very low, as low as they can be grown. 

 Cherries should be headed at about 25 

 inches. Prunes should be headed at 

 about 30 to 35 inches. We used to be- 

 lieve that walnuts should be headed 

 vei-y high, 7 or 8 feet, and no laterals 

 allowed to grow the first few years, but 

 we are finding this was a mistake, and 

 that about 35 inches will make a splen- 

 did head for walnuts. 



Season for Pruning 



Here in the Northwest, in speaking of 

 seasons for pruning, we generally only 

 consider two seasons, namely, the win- 

 ter and summer. We receive many let- 

 ters in regard to early fall or late 

 spring jjruning. There is no question 

 but that in the Northwest, where mild 

 winter conditions prevail, winter prun- 

 ing may be done safely most years at 

 any time when the trees are dormant. 

 In those sections of severe winter con- 

 ditions, we would advise delaying the 

 pruning as late as possible before the 

 growth starts in the spring. Very 

 rarely would we advise fall pruning 

 in the Northwest, unless one has such 

 a large acreage that it is going to be 

 impossible to complete it unless the 

 pruning is commenced early in the sea- 

 son. If it becomes necessary to prune 

 trees in the fall or very early winter, 

 we would suggest that the growers 

 prune the older trees first, leaving the 

 younger trees for the last pruning. We 

 would caution against pruning trees 

 when they are frozen, and would ad- 

 vise delaying pruning until freezing 

 weather is over. Much heart rot and 

 dieback has resulted from pruning 

 frozen trees. It is possible to prune 

 trees somewhat even after they come 

 out fully in the spring. This is espe- 

 cially true with ijcaches, and will be 

 discussed in another section of this 

 article. 



.\s regards summer pruning, this is 

 becoming of such interest and impor- 

 tance that we shall treat it under a 

 special head. 



Three Lessons to Learn in Pruning 

 Young Trees 



There are three great fundamental 

 underlying princiiiles connected with 

 the pruning of young trees. You might 

 say that there are three lessons, and 

 that if these are mastered the problem 



Fir.iBF. 2G — At left: Vigorous flve-ycar-old Wagener tree i)rune<l in .July. 

 Photograph taken in October. Note that there has been a vigorous response 

 of new shoots averaging fully one foot in length as a result of the summer 

 pjuning. .\t right: I"ive-ye.ar-old Wagener apple tree of less than average 

 vigor j)rune<l in July. Photograph taken in early October. There has been 

 practically mi growth response as a ]-esult of the pruning. 



