PRUNING THE FRENCH PRUNE 273 



eighteen inches, develop three side branches upon that and train the 

 branch from the top bud for a lengthening of the stem, and bring out 

 more branches upon that the second year, and then dispense with its 

 farther extension. The engravings on page 272 show this method of 

 developing the head of a young French prune. The tree was cut back 

 at planting in orchard to a straight switch about eighteen inches high. 

 At the end of the first summer this showed the form in the first picture, 

 which is marked for the first winter pruning. The second engraving 

 shows the branching developed from this during the second summer's 

 growth, also marked to prune away some undesirable branches. Upon 

 a tree of this form further cutting back is not desirable as it has enough 

 well-placed branches to form the tree. 



How long cutting back shall continue depends partly upon the local- 

 ity and partly upon the notion of the owner. In interior localities the 

 tree grows with great rapidity and branches more freely. During the 

 third summer it will bear some fruit if not cut back the previous winter, 

 and, where growth is so rapid, there is little danger of injuring the 

 tree by early bearing. In the coast valleys cutting back may continue 

 another year, and fruiting be thus postponed a year to get another 

 summer's freer wood growth. 



Though cutting back may properly cease early with the French 

 prune, it is a great mistake to allow the trees to go unpruned. Removal 

 of defective wood, prevention of branch crowding and overbearing 

 are of the highest importance, as insisted upon in the chapter on prun- 

 ing. Removing surplus laterals at their starting points, and cutting 

 back leaders to laterals already grown and not to encourage new branch- 

 ing will result in a more open tree, which is generally very desirable. 



Special Studies of Varieties in Pruning. The points just ad- 

 vanced apply especially to the management of the French prune. In 

 addition to what has been already said about the Sugar prune, the 

 grower must be exhorted to study the habit of the variety he has to 

 deal with. The general rules for handling trees with different habits 

 of growth are applicable to a certain extent to the plum. When to 

 apply a rule or make an exception must be learned by observation and 

 experience. Some plums, like the Silver prune, have something of the 

 growth habit of the peach, and this is also very true of some of the 

 Japanese varieties. Cutting back in winter and pinching in summer 

 are both useful facts in securing lower branching and low-growing 

 fruit spurs. 



The formation of the vase-form with continuous laterals, as dis- 

 cussed in Chapters XII and XX is being successfully practiced by 

 some growers with plum varieties which need short pruning. 



Grafting the Plum. The plum has been grafted and regrafted 

 in the constant effort to secure varieties promising superiority in va- 

 rious directions. Within the scope of their affinities plums graft easily 

 by common top-grafting methods, and if the roots are strong the new 

 growth is so rapid as to need special attention. Mr. Luther Bowers 

 gives these hints about pruning such growths: "From practical ex- 

 perience I have found out that the Sugar prune wood should only be 



