PRUNING 27 



complished, it is not of course possible to have the apple 

 trees finished by the end of January, but that is im- 

 material. We have often pruned apple trees in March. 

 A good sharp pruning-knife is preferable to secateurs, 

 although the work takes longer to perform, but where 

 pruning is necessary on a large scale secateurs must 

 be used. At the winter pruning, all dead shoots and 

 spurs should be removed, and the branches properly 

 regulated. If any are growing inwards, shorten them 

 back to a bud that points away from the centre of the 

 tree. The same precaution is necessary when pruning 

 the ends of the leading shoots. Always make a point of 

 cutting back to a bud on the outside of the branch. 

 Unless this important detail is attended to, the symmetry 

 and fruit-bearing capacity of the tree also will be liable 

 to deteriorate. If some of the spurs are becoming long, 

 and too far away from the branches, say more than eight 

 or nine inches, they must be shortened, as otherwise 

 the flowers will be fully exposed to the spring frosts, 

 and the fruits to the autumn winds. Thinning the spurs, 

 too, must have attention ; for, if they are allowed to 

 become crowded, fruit buds will cease to form upon 

 them, and their value will be lost. If, however, some 

 are cut out altogether when it becomes necessary, they 

 will continue properly to serve their purpose. Spurs 

 upon the apple tree should not be less than six inches 

 apart from each other. The fruit buds that form upon 

 the basal portion of the shoot left at the winter pruning 

 usually, but not invariably, need two years before they 

 are capable of bearing fruit. In this case, the .fruit bud 

 becomes plump during the spring after the shoot is 

 pruned, develops a few leaves in the following summer, 

 and by the next spring is ready to produce blossoms, 

 which should give fruit in the autumn of the same year. 

 Sometimes, when the shoot is pinched during summer, 

 the fruit bud will have developed sufficiently by the 



