The Bulletin 



11 



tree when the branches arc too close to the ground. The brunches 

 should not be headed too high because it will be ditticult to prune and 

 spray the trees and gather the crop if the branches are out of reach. 

 A height of about two or three feet will give best results. 



During the first growing season, all the growth should be remove«l 

 as soon as formed except four or five shoots. These shoots should be al- 

 lowed to grow so as to form the main branches which should be spaced 

 four to five inches apart on the main stem. Branches that are exactly 

 opposite should not be allowed to form because of danger of splitting 

 when the trees come into bearing. 



Pruning a Two-Year-Old Apple Tree. 



Pruning a two-year-old tree consists of properly distributing and 

 training the branches to a desired shape and form. There are two 

 main systems of training apple trees: the central leader or pyramid 



Fig. 8. — Twoyear-old apple tree. Cut out the central leader and water sprouts and 

 prune as indicated by dotted lines. Cut back the long whips from 1-2 to 1-3 the length. Do 

 not allow opposite branches to form. Dotted lines indicate what shoukl be pruned. Pears, 

 plums, and cherries are pruned in the same way at this age. 



and the open head or vase fonn ; both of these systems are sometimes 

 exaggerated. For Xorth Carolina conditions a cumbination of the 

 two systems will give best results; a round headed tree with partially 

 open center is the most desirable. 



