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BETTER FRUIT 



AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN THE INTEREST OF MODERN, PROGRESSIVE FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING 



Application of the Principles of Pruning to Young Trees 



A 



By Professor C. I. Lewis, Oregon Agricultural College, Corvallis, Oregon 

 (Continued from last issue.) strength, cuttiiis the strongest branches 



T the time the tree is given its first tlie most and tlie wealcest ones the least, 

 pruning we sliould definitely set- One will then have five main branches 



tie the question of height of head. 

 Most growers, after they have headed 

 the tree, pay no more attention to it 

 until the following spring, when they 

 are ready for the second pruning. We 

 believe, however, in many cases this is 

 a mistake. It will be found very ad- 

 visable in May and June to go through 

 the orchard and look over the young 

 trees carefully. At this time certain 

 very small shoots or buds should be 

 rubbed off. If one branch is growing 

 at the expense of all the others, it can 

 be suppressed, and one can do very 

 much the first year to start the tree in 

 the proper way and to put it in better 

 condition for the second year's growth. 

 It is only in rare cases that it will be 

 advisable to give the trees a systematic 

 summer pruning the first year, because 

 it will be only occasionally that the 

 trees will make a sufTiciently rank 

 growth to warrant such pruning. Many 

 young trees do not make much top the 

 first year; they are building roots and 

 getting firmly established. In cases, 

 however, where they have made a 

 strong growth, it is suggested that the 

 trees be summer pruned, and just as 

 soon as they have made sullicient 

 growth so that new laterals can be 

 formed to advantage, you should pinch 

 back these shoots, provided this prun- 

 ing can be done not later than the 

 middle of July, and preferably in June. 

 These laterals should be cut back to 

 stubs from 8 to 1,1 inches in length, 

 depending, of course, upon the vigor 

 of the branch. One can make the mis- 

 take, however, of pinching them back 

 so hard as to force the new laterals too 

 near the main crotch, and thus make a 

 very close, heavy crotch which will 

 pile up in years to come. 



Since few trees can be summer 

 pruned the first season, we shall con- 

 sider the tree the second spring, as one 

 which had received no such pruning. 

 One should choose definitely the type 

 of tree to be grown, either the open, 

 the leader or the modified leader tree. 

 If the tree was summer pruned, that 

 question should have been settled at 

 the time of pruning. If you grow the 

 leader or modified leader you will 

 choose one branch to maintain the 

 lead, and will prune this in such a way 

 that it can maintain such a lead. If 

 you decide to grow the open tree, you 

 should choose the four or five branches 

 and space them as far apart as possible 

 and cut these back according to their 



with a few laterals on each one. It is 

 customary to remove all these laterals. 

 By the middle of June the young tree 

 should have made a sullicient growth to 

 allow for summer pruning. Each 

 branch should be pinched back so as 

 to leave it from 8 to 15 inches long, 

 cutting according to vigor, always sup- 

 pressing the stronger. 



By the following spring each of the 

 original five main scafi"i)ld limbs will 



have from one to a dozen lateral or 

 additional branches. It is customary 

 to remove all but one from each main 

 branch so that when the tree is pruned 

 there will be ten branches on the tree 

 where there were five before. A great 

 deal of care should be used in selecting 

 these new branches. The two branches 

 on each scaffold limb should be spaced 

 as far apart as possible. Of course, 

 avoid the choosing of laterals which 

 will tend to grow in toward the center 

 of the tree. Then in cutting these two 

 laterals avoid cutting them equally. 



I-'iGVRi-; 32 — Five-year-old Winter Nelis pear tree begun as an open center, 



but ty[)ical of the leader type. The lower branches are not keeping pace 



Willi the upper and are becoming weak in comparison. To save or restore 



balance the ujjper Ijranches must be suppressed. 



