832 THE FRUIT INDUSTRY IN XEW YORK STATE 



be borne in mind, however, that the tree must be sustained entirely 

 from the air through its leaves until the threadlike fibers start 

 from the roots and can obtain sustenance from the soil. Older 

 trees, therefore, should obviously not be pruned in this way; 

 neither is it wise to cut them back severely. 



The top, of course, should not be out of proportion to the roots. 

 The most approved present-day practice is to remove injured roots 

 or twigs and shorten branches unduly long, but otherwise to leave 

 the top untouched. If one can devote the time to this work at the 

 proper season, much of the shaping and training can be done with 

 the thumb and finger in pinching and rubbing off embryo buds or 

 branches. Experiments at the New York Agricultural Experiment 

 Station with various kinds of young trees plainly indicate the 

 soundness of the above advice. From year to year the same general 

 line of pruning should be followed. It is surely not good business 

 to tax the soil to grow wood to be cut off. This emphasizes the 

 unwisdom of so forcing the young tree during its formative period 

 as to result in a rank, succulent growth which must be removed in 

 order to prevent the tree from becoming top-heavy. Furthermore, 

 such forcing tends to postpone the period of fruitage. Like men 

 and women, trees become creatures of habit, and by forced feeding 

 and pruning they may get into the growing rather than the bearing 

 habit. Most varieties of apples bear their fruit on two-year-old 

 wood and on the terminal buds. To cut back in such a manner as 

 to destroy this wood and these buds certainly prevents fruiting, 

 while to cut back the ends of the young limbs is to remove the 

 terminal buds and induce a rosette growth, or cluster of twigs, at 

 the place of cutting, a most undesirable condition. 



LOW-HEADED TREES 



The height of the first or lower branches should be determined 

 at the time of setting, as the distance from the ground at which 

 they are started will remain the same during the life of the tree. 

 The importance of low heading is my warrant for a slight digres- 

 sion from the real subject of pruning to state reasons for such 

 heading. By a low-headed tree I mean that in upright growers, 

 such as the Baldwin, the first branches will be between two and 

 three feet from the ground, and those like the Greening that are 



