1086 THE FRUIT INDUSTRY IN XEW YORK STATE 



ground are also troublesome in harboring the borer, an insect 

 that proves much more difficult to control than the San Jose scale, 

 if it is especially prevalent. 



The type of secondary pruning adopted is also of much more 

 importance in maintaining fruit production close to the ground 

 than is a matter of six inches or more in the length of the trunk. 

 In many orchards it has been demonstrated that a tree with a 

 trunk twenty inches high is as easy to spray and manage and 

 harvest as one with a trunk six inches high. Too much importance 

 is often placed on the exact height of the trunk. If it measures 

 anywhere from six to twenty or even twenty-four inches, a ti 

 that is economical to manage can be produced. The writer do< 

 not favor cutting the trees back to six-inch stubs, since it is diffi- 

 cult to remove borers from such trees and experiments show that 

 trees of large caliper make less growth the first season when cut 

 back as severely as this. Trees with trunks from 36 to 48 inches 

 in length, however, are more likely to be blown over by high winds 

 than are trees with shorter trunks. A slender nursery tree of five- 

 eighths- to three-and-four-tenths-inch caliper will have but few 

 slender side branches below the point where it is cut back at time 

 of planting, and these may as well be pruned off. If the tree is 

 heavily branched, the side branches below the point of heading- 

 back may be cut to from four to six-inch stubs. All large roots 

 should be cut off smoothly so that they will be about six inches in 

 length. 



PRUNING AT CLOSE OF FIRST SEASON 



Very little or no summer pruning should be done during the 

 first summer after planting. If shoots develop low down on the 

 trunk as well as at the top, however, they may be rubbed off soon 

 after they develop, but during the first summer thinning out of 

 the number of branches that form the head is not advised, since it 

 is almost certain to reduce the vigor of the tree. 



In the dormant season following the first summer's growth after 

 planting, the first real pruning of the orchard begins. At this 

 time the fruit grower should select the main branches that are to 

 form the framework of the tree in future years, and on the 

 character of the selection made largely depends the future strength 

 of the tree and its ability to produce heavy crops without serious 



