of those tree parts which tend to bear fruit of poor size and 

 color. 



Limb positioning (described elsewhere in this publication) 

 is a very important practice on cultivars, such as Red Deli- 

 cious, which possess the inherent tendency to develop narrow 

 crotches. 



The "novice" fruitgrower should purchase (fee 25 cents) 

 Leaflet No. 290 entitled "Pruning Fruit Trees in the Home 

 Orchard" from the Bulletin Center, Stockbridge Hall, Univer- 

 sity of Massachusetts, Amherst. This leaflet contains illustra- 

 tions, photographs, and discussions which will increase the 

 reader's understanding of basic pruning techniques. 



Pruning low density orchards with containment of tree 

 height. Many growers would like to restrict tree height to 

 about 12 feet even in low density orchards. The central 

 leader and branch development on the central leader in the 

 upper portion of the tree requires considerable attention 

 in order to accomplish this goal. The following training and 

 pruning procedures for restriction of tree height \s suggested 

 for trial. These procedures involve the development of 

 branches in layers on the central leader and heading the cen- 

 tral leader annually (Fig. 1 0B) fe(/f/?of /7ea(y/>7g the past sea- 

 son's growth on scaffold limbs as shown in this figure. Tree 

 height can also be restricted by using pruning procedures 

 described under the previous heading and by annual heading 

 of the central leader as described below. 



Fig. 10A. Two year old tree being pruned by standard prun- 

 ing procedures. The lowest limb should be 18 to 

 20 inches from the ground, all others spaced 4 to 

 8 inches apart vertically on the trunk and each 

 one about 90° around the trunk from the one 

 below it. 



Fig. 108. Two year old tree being pruned as suggested by 

 the USDA. It has 2 layers of limbs. The leader 

 will be headed annually [heavy marks ( — ) indi- 

 cate heading cuts] . The one year old wood on the 

 branches is headed annually until branches on 

 which this wood is borne start to fruit. 



First dormant season. 



1. Select central leader and remove branches competing 

 with it (Figs 11 and 12). (This could have been done 

 in June of the first growing season.) See Fig. 13. 



2. Head the central leader by removing % to V2 of its past 



season's growth (Fig. 12). 

 p 



a. When heading leader of a weak tree or one with 



no lateral branching, be aware that the first level 

 of branches should be developed within the verti- 

 cal spacing of approximately 1 8 to 30 inches from 

 ground level. 



b. If the leader and lateral branch development is 

 poor, head it regardless, developing both the first 

 and possibly some of the second level of branches 

 the following year. 



3. Select lateral branches (3 to 5 if possible), well-spaced 

 vertically around the trunk for the first level of perma- 

 nent branches at the base of the leader. (These branches 

 could have been positioned with spring-type clothes- 

 pins during the first growing season.) Fig. 14 shows the 

 use of clothespins to position branches. 



a. If only one branch has developed or the branches 

 are too high or low, remove them and start over. 



b. If branches have developed on only one side, do 

 the same. 



4. Branches lower than 18 to 20 inches from the ground 

 should be removed. 



Second dormant season. 



1. A well-grown tree will have branches on 2 and 3 year 

 old wood. However, most trees will not make sufficient 

 growth to make possible the selection of a second level 

 of branches 20 to 24 inches above the lower level of 

 branches at the base of the central leader. 



2. Remove all shoots competing with the previous sum 

 mer's extension growth of the central leader. (This 

 could have been done in June of the previous growing 

 season. Also, it may have been possible to retain some 

 of these competing shoots if they had been positioned 

 with spring-type clothespins during the previous grow 

 ing season.) 



3. Head the central leader by removing Va to V2 of its past 

 season's growth depending on tree vigor and the pres- 

 ence or absence of lateral branches on the previous 

 summer's extension growth of the central leader. 



4. Remove all branches along the central leader for a dis- 

 tance of 20 to 24 inches between the uppermost branch 

 of the first layer of permanent branches and the top 

 of the leader. (This could have been done during the 



"Heading— usually refers to cuts made into current season's 

 shoots or 1 -year-old shoots. Only part of this wood is re- 

 moved, leaving part of the same age wood on the tree. 



20 



