THE MONTPILY BULLETIN. 389 



Suckers Developed Into Fruit Bearing Wood. 



Xo (1(ml)t th(- (|\u'sti()ii arises, just how lnn<r will it take the suekei's to 

 develop into fruit hearing wood? When the experiment started we did 

 not expect results for two or three years, hut have heen agreeably 

 surprised by the fact that many of last year's suckers have produced 

 blossoms and set especially well foi'med fruit this s]n'ing. 



To continue with the general pruning experiment we followed the 

 summer pruning idea rather strenuously, and in some cases removed 

 more than half of the new growth. It seemed impossible to check the 

 vigorous growth, which followed as a result of the winter pruning, for 

 more than a very short time. The trees remained in full foliage long 

 after the regular orchards were bare in the fall, and when the time for 

 winter pruning finally arrived we found that much more wood must be 

 removed in order to maintain a properly thinned out top. The amount 

 of brush removed during the second winter was quite as great, if not 

 greater, than that taken out the first year, but a marked difference in 

 the character of the liru-h was noted. The mildewed tips and diseased 

 wood so common the first winter were scarcely in evidence at all in the 

 fall of 1913. This spring the same summer pruning plan has been 

 started and still more attention is being paid to the development of 

 fruit bearing wood along the main branches. 



Crop Located on Main Branches. 



The crop now on the trees is satisfactory and is four to six times as 

 heavy as that in a regulation orchard of the same age, adjoining. This 

 crop is located on or near the main branches, in such a way that little 

 or no propping will be required to sustain the load. Numerous props 

 are necessary to prevent the breaking down of trees trained by the 

 system common to the district. 



The trees in the demonstration plot are now healthy to a degree which 

 appeared almost impossible a few years ago. They appear like trees 

 which had grown in a new district where diseases are unknown. 



We do not claim this to be a new system of pruning or one embodying 

 ideas which have not been advanced and practiced elsewhere. If it Avere 

 a new sj'stem, positive statements and recommendations could not be 

 made regarding it, for several years are required to demonstrate such 

 matters. 



Training a Young Orchard. 



I have discussed the pruning of trees which have grown up under a 

 different system, and have noted the fact that it was not possible to 

 shape them along ideal lines since the large limbs cannot be removed. 

 Such cutting is almost certain destruction to fruit trees in general, and 

 particularly the apple in this district. AVith young trees, on the other 

 hand, it is possible to train them in the way they should go. The growth 

 of such trees can be developed continually along the right lines by 

 summer and winter pruning with the shears. No undesirable limb need 

 be allowed to grow to a .size requiring the use of the saw. Three main 

 branches starting from the trunk at reasonable distance from the 

 ground, these branches forking into two, form the framework of an 

 ideal tree. 



