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be the case, then thej should be given ven* drastic pruning, 

 so as to grow an entirely new top, a good many feet nearer 

 the ground than the old one. It will practically amount to 

 the removal of all the top in perhaps two years, and the 

 branches should be cut down at least six or eight feet, and 

 sometimes much more. This seems like heroic treatment, 

 and it is, but in the great majority of cases, if the trees are 

 otherAvise healthy, they will send out a bushy top which, with 

 judicious thinning, will make practically a new tree out of 

 the old one. And one great reason why such old trees as we 

 are now considering (tall, overgrown ones) are not profitable 

 is that they are so tall that every operation — pruning, spray- 

 ing, picking, etc., — is four or five times as costly as with 

 lower trees. So it is absolutely essential to get them down 

 nearer the ground if they are ever to be made profitable. On 

 the other hand, if the trees are reasonably low the pruning 

 may consist largely in thinning the top throughout, begin- 

 ning, of course, with the dead branches, and then taking 

 enough live ones to leave the head fairly open to light and 

 air, and to the sprayer when that comes on the scene. Even 

 in this class of trees (those which are not unreasonably tall), 

 it is often possible to reduce their height to advantage, with- 

 out materially altering their form, by simply cutting back 

 each of the main, upright branches to one of its strong, main 

 offshoots. The effect may not be just what we would like at 

 the start, and th^ top may be somewhat thrown out of bal- 

 ance, but with a year's growth it will largely recover its 

 symmetry, and even if it should not altogether the advantages 

 of the lower top will offset any disadvantages. 



Another point in this pruning, and one often neglected, is 

 not to remove too large branches in the thinning. Of course, 

 it is much easier to remove what one considers the required 

 amount of wood by taking out a few large branches, but the 

 results are much better if one will take comparatively small 

 branches (not above an inch, and preferably much smaller, 

 in diameter) and take more of them. This thins the top uni- 

 formly, letting in light, air and spraying materials to all 

 parts equally; while the removal of a few large branches 



