THE MONTHLY BT'LLETIN. 



395 



Again the lesser number is desirable because of the extra size they will 

 attain and the consequent ability to hold up greater loads of fruit. 

 Oetasionally four or five are left rather than three because of the 

 liability of breaking off some branches in cultivating, etc. If one out of 

 tliree scaffold branches is broken the head is very apt to be unbalanced 

 and difficulty may be experienced in getting it shaped up well afterward, 

 where if there were four or five and one should get broken the cliances 

 M'ould be more favorable. 



Fig. 99 shows one of the oldest orchards the writer has seen which 

 was started Avith three scaffold branches. While the spacing of these 

 was faulty in this case, the trees are much better than they would have 

 been had more branches been left. Fig. 100 shows an apple tree after 

 the second year's pruning, which has been well headed and which has 

 only three branches left to form the framework. Fig. 101 shows another 



Fig. 102. — Young orchard, part of which has been pruned, illustrating the value 

 of heavy cutting back. (Original.) 



well headed tree of the same age in which five have been left instead of 

 three. Either tree will make a good growth, but the former will develop 

 the stockiest branches and should be a little better tree at the end of the 

 growing season. The branches selected for the framework should not be 

 left in their entirety but should be cut back as .shown in Figs. 100 and 

 101. If they are left without cutting back, slender willow-like growths 

 will probably be the result. If cut back to lengths of ten to twelve 

 inches a heavier growth and a greater increase in the diameter of the 

 twigs will take place. Fig. 102 shows a young orchard which illustrates 

 this nicely. 



In the case of most varieties of trees at least, it is best to cut to outside 

 buds when this second season's pruning is done, in order to spread the 

 head. The natural spread differs greatly with different varieties, and 

 whether outside or inside buds are left at the terminals of the twigs 

 in pruning, will depend on this varietal factor. For instance, the 

 AVinesap has a tendency to spread and grow bushy, and in order to make 



