195 



Branch showing Fruit 

 Buds. A Place where 

 it should be cut. 



The same Branch the 

 following season if not 

 shortened back. 



Branch the second year 

 Line A showing where it 

 should be shortened to 

 strengthen the lower 

 branches. 



case of young trees, as it helps to conserve the energies of the plants and 

 lessens the necessity for trimming in the winter. Care must, however, 

 be taken not to bare the trees too much, as a good proportion of foliage 

 is essential to perfect root action and is also wanted to shade the trees. 

 It is advisable to always train the trees with low heads, which are, for 

 various reasons, preferable to tall ones. The fruit on low-headed trees 

 suffers least from the effects of high winds and is more easily gathered, 

 there is a better shade for the stems (a matter of some importance in this 

 part of the world), and pruning is more easily effected. Boot prunir.g is 

 not often required by the Apricot, though it may sometimes be practised 

 with advantage when trees are making an over-luxurious growth of wood 

 and produce but little fruit. Sometimes trees will produce flowers in 

 abundance but little or no fruit sets. When this happens it is a good 

 plan to ring the bark half-way round the tree just as it comes into 

 flower. The writer for several years adopted this practice with success, 

 and through it managed to obtain crops that otherwise would have been 



