Page 4 



BETTER FRUIT 



December, ipip 



Ircme form is desirable and both 

 forms are foreign to the natural de- 

 veloi)ment of the tree, and if the tree 

 is given reasonable ojjportunily to de- 

 velop this extreme soon disappears. 

 The natural and best form is about 

 niidway between these extremes. The 

 center of the tree must be open to 

 light witliout regard to the parlieular 

 way in which the scaffold limbs are 

 disli-ibuted. Trees that are prone to 

 develop low drooping side branches. 

 as the Jonathan, can often be devel- 

 oped in a form of central leader type 

 for a few years to advantage. Other 

 varieties, as the F!sopus and Rome 

 Beauty, do not lend themselves w'ell to 

 this type of young tree. The vase 

 form is purely an artificial type con 

 ceived in the mind of the grower. The 

 trees can be trained to this type, bul 

 it is sehhim a inofitable form. 

 The Second Winter Pruning 

 Thin out the top of the tree where 

 the number of branches growing is so 

 great as to cause the limbs that are 

 more or less permanent to be very 

 slender. Small side shoots should not 

 be removed because of their value in 

 helping to develop and make more 

 stocky the main branches to which 

 they are attached. The top should be 

 opened by removing large limbs as 

 far as possible without destroying the 

 frame of the tree. The large limbs 



./ 



Figure 2. X Delicious tree that has beeu 

 excessively pruned. It is now carved out to 

 the vase form. 



wood that is where none is wanted 

 and correct faulty distribution of 

 branches. The main business of the 

 tree during the period of development 

 before heavy fruit production begins 

 is to produce wood, or to t«row, and 

 for this purpose an abundance of foli- 



From the time of the second winter 

 pruning until fruit production is es- 

 lablished, pruning should be done 

 with tlie idea of training to the 

 adopted system more than modifying 

 gi'owth. Most of the work should be 

 done in the winter, but constant at- 

 li'iition throughout the year is neces- 

 sary to have the trees make the mojt 

 r:ipid permanent progress. The top 

 should be open enough to let a little 

 ol the direct rays of the sun reach the 

 giound beneath. The change from a 

 nursery tree to a tree in full fruit pro- 

 duction is gradual without definite 

 dates or sudden changes from one 

 stage to another. Pruning is only one 

 of the several cultural practices nec- 

 essary to secure the maximum fruit 

 production and it cannot be used suc- 

 cessfully as a substitute for soil fertil- 

 ity or good tillage. If the trees are 

 well grown in the nursery and well 

 planted on good soil and if thereafter 

 they receive plenty of moisture and 

 soil tillage, they will develop into good 

 fruit producers. 



In pruning young trees, a great deal 

 has been said and practiced relative 

 to the point at which one-year-old 

 branches should be cut. A great deal 

 of emphasis has been placed by some 

 pruners upon cutting the branch di- 

 agonally so that the base of the cut 

 would be opposite a bud. If they de- 



Figure 3. A Jonathan tree excessively pruned by constant 

 cutting back and removal of small twigs, resulting in an over 

 aliundance of large branches about the same size. A tree of this 

 type requires the lemoval of a large number of these large 

 branches with a minimum cutting of small ones. 



Figure 1. Trunk and framework of a young Jonathan 

 tree after bearing its second crop of fruit. A form thought 

 to be almost ideal by many growers. The trunk is too 

 short and the branches too nearly horizontal in their direc- 

 tion. Such trees usually require heroic treatment later, 

 with the resulting loss of production. 



and trunk require protection from ex- 

 treme heat of the summer sun and the 

 developmenf of a reasonable quantity 

 of laterals tends also to bring the tree 

 into early fruit production. 



Beginning with the second winter 

 pruning the work should be mostly 

 corrective in its character. Prune out 



age and small twigs are necessary. It 

 is a wise plan to leave plenty of wood 

 in a tree to be taken out later, but all 

 branches that interfere with the frame- 

 work should be removed. Wood once 

 taken out cannot be easily replaced by 

 new growth, but excessive growth can 

 be cut away at any time. 



sire to have the trees spread more 

 they cut back to a bud pointing toward 

 the outside of the tree. The careful 

 cutting close to the bud avoids the 

 dead stub that develops if a twig is 

 cut one-half inch or more above the 

 bud. The tip bud left on the branch 

 usually assumes almost the original 



