Page 10 



BETTER FRUIT 



March 



I'lGUKE 55 — An old Italian pruiu- tree tluit >>ntj ,\lmi a>;u w a^ in much the same 

 L-ondilion as Ihat shown in Figure 53. At lliat lime it was pi'uned in the 

 same manner as the tree siiown in Figure 54. Note the increased vigor and 

 stockiness of tlie old fruiting branches and fruit spurs, and the watersprouts 

 springing from the scalfold limbs. Good fruiting wood can l^e developed 

 easily from these watersprouts 



near the cmls of last year's growtli, or 

 near the end of what is left of it after 

 the winter's pruning, that are able to 

 develop new shoots. From the other 

 buds are produced only short branches, 

 which, because of their position, the 

 shortness of their internodes (closeness 

 of their joints) and their subsequent 

 behavior, we call spurs. These spurs 

 may become several inches long the first 

 season, though as a rule they are much 

 shorter. 



If these spurs are examined during 

 the growing season they will be found 

 to possess several leaves apiece, and in 

 the axil of each leaf is a bud. Their 

 leaves are of normal size, and the buds 

 in the axils of these leaves are of nor- 

 mal appearance. The only difference 

 between the spur and the ordinary leafy 

 shoot apparently is in length. However, 

 examination of one of these spurs dur- 

 ing the dormant period will show that 

 some of its buds are leaf-buds and some 

 are flower-buds. Invariably its ter- 

 minal bud is a leaf-bud. Some of its 

 lateral buds are likely to be leaf-buds, 

 but a large proportion of them are 

 flower-buds. Here, then, is the mech- 

 anism by means of which the prune 

 tree bears its fruit. It occurs as a short 

 branch, lateral to the main direction of 

 growth of the limb from which it 

 springs, and terminating in a leaf-bud. 

 The flower-buds themselves are lateral, 

 being borne singly in the axils of the 



leaves. When the leaves are very close 

 together, the internodes being very 

 short, the flower-buds may seem to be 

 clustered, but an examination of the 

 spur during the summer shows that 

 each bud is subtended by a leaf. It will 

 thus be seen that the fruit of the prune 

 is borne laterally on spurs. 



It should be explained here that this 

 is intended as a description of only the 

 ordinari, fruiting habit of the prune. 

 Some varieties fretpiently show some 

 variation from this method of fruit- 

 bearing. Especially is this true of young 

 trees growing vigorously and of water- 

 sprouts on older trees. With them there 

 is a tendency to produce lateral fruit- 

 buds near the base of the new shoots, 

 and at the sides of the regular axillary 

 leaf-buds, after the manner of the 

 peach. However, these are to be re- 

 garded as rather special, though not 

 abnormal, cases. The luajority of prunes 

 are borne on spurs. 



How the Fruit-Spur Grows From 

 Year to Year 



Since the fruit-spur of the prune ter- 

 minates in a leaf-bud that starts to 

 vegetate about the same time that its 

 lateral flower-buds open, the spur in- 

 creases in length at the same time that 

 it is producing fruit. By the end of the 

 second season it consists of an older 

 portion that has borne fruit, and of a 

 newer portion that possesses a terminal 



leaf-bud and a number of lateral flower 

 and leaf-buds, these lateral buds having 

 been borne in the axils of the leaves of 

 the preceding season. The fruit-spur is 

 thus ready to bear fruit again the fol- 

 lowing year. Under normal conditions 

 it may be expected to fruit and elongate 

 during the third and fourth and during 

 succeeding years, in the same way it 

 fruited and increased in length during 

 the second season. A fruit-spur, once 

 foriued, tends to live a good many 

 years. So far as we know, there is no 

 factor connected with its manner of 

 growth to set a definite limit to its age. 

 It is possible that as it becomes older it 

 loses some of its vigor and finally be- 

 comes unable to jiroduce good fruit. 

 To prolong the life of the individual 

 fruit-spur, or more accurately, the per- 

 iod during which it is capable of pro- 

 ducing good fruit, should be one of the 

 main objects of pruning practice. The 

 prune orchard is maintained for the 

 prunes it will produce, and if a very 

 large percentage of its fruit is borne 

 upon fruit-spurs their number and pro- 

 ductiveness should be studied with ref- 

 erence to every orchard operation, and 

 particularly with reference to pruning, 

 for obviously the various pruning prac- 

 tices directly efTect them. 



The Difference Between Good and Poor 

 Fruit-Spurs 



In describing the luanner of growth 

 of the fruit-spur of the prune, one im- 

 portant characteristic was not noted. 

 It is that the portion of the spur that 

 bears fruit any one season produces 

 only very small leaves during that 

 season and no leaves at all during suc- 

 ceeding seasons. The only part of the 

 individual fruil-s]jur iiroducing leaves 

 during any summer is the new portion 

 developing from the bud that terminated 

 last season's growth. This is because 

 the flower-buds of the prune are practi- 

 cally flower-buds only, and not mixed 

 buds like those of the apple and ])ear. 

 As the spur elongates year after year, 

 it coiues to consist of a long barren 

 basal i)ortion and a short terminal pro- 

 ductive and growing portion. Exaiuina- 

 tion of the fruit-spur system in almost 

 any old prune tree will disclose many 

 fruit-spurs that have become very long, 

 slender and willowy. It is not uncom- 

 mon to find individual spurs eigliteen or 

 twenty inches long, only the terminal 

 one or two inches of which produce 

 leaves and fruit and jjossess fruit-buds 

 and leaf-buds for the following season. 

 In the same tree will be found short, 

 stocky spurs, sometimes not more than 

 one or two inches long. It hardly need 

 be pointed out that of the two kinds 

 the latter are greatl>- to be preferred. 

 They usually average more fruit to the 

 spur, hold their fruits from being blown 

 about so much by the wind, keep them 

 from becoming limb-rubbed, and are 

 themselves less subject to accident. In 

 fact, it is the long slender spurs that 

 are usualh- the first to become weak, 

 l)roduce smaller fruits, and finally die. 

 It may almost be said that a marked 

 lengthening of the spin' instead of its 

 remaining short and stocky is a sign of 

 weakened vitality, the first indication 



