PRUNING DWARF TREES 271 



Top -pruning of a dwarf has two objects, to 

 limit the growth, and to train the plant to some 

 desired form. Pruning to limit growth is merely 

 heading -back. This should be done every winter. 

 How much the growth shall be headed -back de- 

 pends on its length and the age of the tree. 

 Dwarf pears and apples which make an average 

 growth of eighteen to thirty inches on their 

 uppermost twigs are usually headed -back a half 

 to five -sixths of that growth. This cutting- 

 back will induce a lateral or interior growth (Sec- 

 tion 9, Chap. IV.), and this must be thinned out. 

 It is generally best to prune very late in winter 

 or early in spring, and to cut to within three- 

 eighths inch of a bud (see Figs. 82, 83). 



Pruning to secure some desired shape of the 

 top must, of course, be governed by the ideal of 

 the operator. There are two general forms to 

 which dwarf fruit trees are pruned, the pyra- 

 mid and the inverted cone. The pyramid is 

 popular in Europe, and the Old World writings 

 contain minute descriptions of the details of 

 pruning for this ideal. Fig. 195 shows dwarf 

 pear pyramids in the grounds of the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Society, at Chiswick, England. The 

 essential feature of this type of training is a 

 central shaft from which successive tiers of 

 branches are taken. 



The flat -topped or inverted -cone -shaped style 

 of training is the commonest ideal in commercial 



