218 AGRONOMY 



center. In selecting the branches to remain, every endeavor 

 should be made to have no gaps in the crown of foliage. There 

 should be enough branches to fill it out on all sides. In shap- 

 ing young fruit trees and the like, the branches should not be 

 allowed to spring from a common point, and all forks should 

 be avoided. Looking down upon the specimen and imagining 

 a circle with the trunk of the plant in the center, endeavor to 

 train it in such a way that from three to five main brand ics 

 radiate out at equal distances and form the framework of a 

 well-balanced crown. In setting young fruit trees they are 

 sometimes pruned to mere whips and a new head developed 

 from the fresh twigs that will spring forth. Orchard trees are 

 usually headed low to facilitate gathering the fruit. 



Making the cut. In removing branches all cuts should be 

 made close to the stem, and no stubs left to harbor insects and 

 the germs of disease. In removing very large limbs there is 

 always danger that they may fall by their own weight and 

 thus tear down the bark and wood of the main stem before the 

 cut is complete. This may be avoided by first making a cut 

 part way through the branch on the underside and a foot or 

 more from the trunk.* A cut from above meeting this or a 

 little beyond it will sever the limb, after which the stub may be 

 sawed off close to the trunk. If the branch removed is more 

 than an inch in diameter, the wound should be immediately 

 covered with a coat of paint or grafting wax to keep out injury 

 from the weather, bacteria, and insects. Scars left by the 

 removal of smaller branches may be disregarded, as the tree 

 will soon cover them with bark. 



Specimens needing little pruning. The evergreen trees should 

 never be pruned. When properly grown the branches radiate 

 on all sides from the ground up, and the trees lose much of 

 their beauty when trimmed like other trees. An evergreen 

 tree, once deprived of its lower branches, rarely renews them. 

 Shade trees seldom require pruning except to remove dead 



