THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



393 



the chances of sun-scald and its attendant evils are also increased by 

 this practice. The trees should be let entirely alone throughout the 

 first season, after they have been cut back, and the second season there 

 should be plenty of branches to choose from in forming the framework. 



Selecting the Framework Branches the Second Season. 



Only a glance is necessary into practically any of the older orchards 

 when it will be seen that very little attention has been paid in the past 

 to the careful selection of a proper number of branches rightly spaced. 

 Such trees as the one shown in Fig. 98 are not at all uncommon. This 

 type of head is decidedly bad and has no place in the recently planted 

 orchards. A great number of weakly crotclies are inevitable in such 

 cases as this; no larger head can be formed than on a lesser number of 



Fig. 99. — Trees of mature age near Watsonville, which liave been started with 

 only three scaffold branches. Note the heavy growth. (Original.) 



branches and it will not be nearly so thrifty, but worst of all, the time 

 will surely come when because of accident or otherwise it wall be neces- 

 sary to prune out some of the large limbs from the crowded framework. 

 The close quarters for pruning will not permit of doing same with ease 

 and as a consecpience large stubs wdl be left which always mean disas- 

 ter to an apple tree. The ends will not heal over, rot fungi will get 

 in their work, borers and termites find conditions favorable, and what 

 might have been a long lived tree is doomed after only a few short 

 years of productivity. 



From three to five branches are plenty, when carefully selected with 



reference to spacing and balancing the head, for any apple tree. iNIany 



prefer three because of the fact that just as large a head can be formed 



upon them as on five and there will not be so much chance for crowding. 



2—1.31514 



