3S 



The Bulletin 



more crowding and not so mucli length growth; necessarily more prun- 

 ing will have to be done and less hcading-in of the terminals. The 

 practice of heading-in from year to year and pruning so as to form 

 an op<?n, spreading, low-topped tree, produces strong, stock limbs. 

 The tree is enabled to hold up under heavy crops of fruit and produce 

 the fruit near the ground, where it can bo more easily sprayed and 

 harvested. By keeping the head open and spreading, the sun and 

 air are admitted, which produce more highly colored fruit and reduce 

 the amount of brown rot. 



Tbe extent of the annual shearing of the trees will depend on the 

 number and condition of the fruit buds. If there are a large number 



Fig. 25. A tree i)roi)erly iiniiH'il |iroduces fruit down to the crotcli. 



of vigoroiLi buds, considerable heading-in may be practiced; while it 

 a nund)cr of tlio l)nds liave been killed, it is advisable to head in very 

 little or none at all during that particular .'reason. Sliould all the buds 

 be killed, it will be advisal)l(' to head hai-k .•^evenly, in the case of 

 trees eight years of age and older \vliei-e the fruit hnds have heiii 

 killed, it will generally be found advisable to cut them haek severely 

 or dehorn tliem. See Fig. 23. Tn "dehoniing." the main limbs are 

 generally cnt to stubs 3 to 5 feet in length. it is possihle to grow a 

 new top during the .season following the "dehorning" operation which 

 will produce a crop the following year. The winter pinning may be 



