AN APPLE ORCHARD SURVEY OF WAYNE COUNTY, NEW YORK. 285 



follows : " The conclusion, and my general opinion, in respect to the 

 season of pruning, so far as the healing of wounds is concerned, is this : 

 The ideal time is in. spring, 

 before growth begins (late 

 February, March and early 

 April in New York;) but 

 more depends on the position 

 of the wound in the tree and 



FIG. 55. The crotch which 

 will probably cause the 

 tree to split. One of the 

 leaders should be removed. 



FIG. 54. The long stub resulted in the broken 

 tree. 



the length of the stub than on the time of 

 year."* The best time to prune will gener- 

 ally be the time when labor is least expen- 

 sive. 



How to treat crotches. The best way to 

 treat a crotch is never to allow one to form ; 

 but when one secures an orchard in which 

 they are already formed he must do what 

 is possible to correct the weakness. 



In Fig. 55 is shown a young tree with a 

 bad crotch that will be quite certain to ruin it. 

 One of the forks should be cut off. Fig. 56 

 shows the trunk of an old tree similarly 

 pruned. Fig. 57, from the same orchard as 



Pruning-Book, fourth edition, 1902. 



