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D ormant Car e: Since late fall, winter and early spring can be a 

 "slack season" in fruit growing, these are good times to get some 

 of the major tree training and pruning chores done. However, 

 that is not enough to satisfy conditions for a well-trained or 

 well managed orchard. To be sure, the basic tree forms can be 

 established in the dormant season by branch spreading and tying, 

 elimination of poor branches, "hold" pruning, tipping, etc., but 

 a follow-up summer program puts the finishing accomplished touches 

 on the trees. 



Summer Care : During June and July, both non-bearing and bearing 

 apple trees can be "shaped up" by eliminating excess shoot growth. 

 This can be done in two ways. First, by removing shoots which 

 grow upright and are so vigorous that they compete with fruiting 

 wood. Twin shoots originating at one point should be reduced to 

 one leaving the best positioned one for future bearing wood. 



Secondly, rather than eliminating an entire shoot (1973 

 growth) pinch or cut it back leaving 2 or 3 buds at the base. 

 This satisfies two conditions of the tree: 



1. Growth control by adjusting total leaf surface and by pro- 

 viding uniform light exposure. 



2. Creation of a more compact fruiting tree in a predeter- 

 mined density. 



Summer care can also include shaping trees by making one or 



two major cuts eliminating branches which for some reason are not 



productive or perhaps crowding other more fruitful branches. In 

 fact, pruning cuts in older wood heal rapidly in the summer. 



Sucker Removal : Summer orchard care also includes the removal of 

 sucker growth that can be abundant due to major pruning cuts in 

 the dormant season. These suckers should be pulled off rather 

 than cut off, because re-growth is less by so doing. An occasional 

 sucker (shoot) can be left as a potential fruit branch replacement 

 for an older branch or to fill in a non-productive part of the 

 tree. In compact and intensive fruit plantings, it is important 

 to maintain the trees fruitful on young active branches. In other 

 words, do not hesitate to eliminate larger branches in preference 

 to branches which fruit closer to the trunk. 



Central Leader Care : Summer also is the time to prevent the loss 

 of leaders because of heavy fruit loads. This is especially im- 

 portant until the tree is large enough for a particular tree den- 

 sity. So, it is best to remove all fruit from the top one-fourth 

 of the leader. When the tree has reached its ultimate height, 

 the leader can be allowed to fruit and flex over to one side. 



Incidentally, the central leader in a compact tree bears annu- 

 al watching. When it becomes overly vigorous, head it back to a 



