89 



PRUNING THE APPLE TREE.' 



C. D, JARVIS, PH.D., CON>rECTICUT AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



The Ideal in Peuning. 



The architect or builder, before building a house, selects 

 a certain style of structure and this style is followed to the 

 end. The man who would be successful in building up a 

 fruit-bearing structure must also select a style or ideal, and 

 this ideal should be kept constantly in mind throughout the 

 various stages of development. The apple tree is a wonder- 

 fully tractable object and may be made to assume almost any 

 shape. Any one who has tried to develop a spreading habit 

 in a Sutton apple tree may disagree with me on this point, 

 for this and some other varieties are sometimes difficult to 

 train, but even the most obstinate cases may be brought under 

 control if proper methods are followed. The methods that 

 have proven successful with some sorts, however, may not be 

 suited to others. For example, a young Greening tree will 

 assiune a spreading habit without any special effort on the 

 part of the grower, while a young Sutton will require a severe 

 check in its growth to encourage the production of fruit, the 

 weight of which tends to bring the branches down to a hori- 

 zontal position. 



In the pruning of apple trees there are two distinct styles 

 or ideals, the central-leader type and the open-center type, 

 each with its corps of adherents. Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate 

 these two types of structures. The supporters of the central- 

 leader type claim that it is a stronger structure and not so 

 likely to be broken down by wind and heavy crops of fruit. 

 This is a strong argument, but it is offset by many disad- 

 vantages. With certain naturally spreading varieties, like 

 Greening, Tolman Sweet, or Fall Pippin, it works very well, 



» Crop Report, Vol. 25, No. 5, September, 1912. 



