FRUIT CULTURE 135 



In all young trees, so set, we prune bcack the tops not only to 

 form the head of the tree at the point where we want it, but in 

 order to counterbalance the root system which has been cut away, 

 because in digging the trees the workmen destroy a considerable 

 portion of the roots. This picture shows a nurseryman's team at 

 work digging the trees. Eight horses are hauling the digging 

 machine which you will see in the next slide. 



This is the arrangement which is used for digging trees in nur- 

 series. Not all nurserymen dig in that way, but this is the common 

 way used in nurseries at the present time. It is an immense steel 

 scoop arrangement with the front edge sharpened. This runs right 

 along the row of the trees and simply cuts off all the roots that are 

 on the inside of that steel scoop. For that reason you can readily 

 see that a great many roots are cut oflF and that it is necessary to 

 head back the top to correspond with the lost root system. 



The next two or three slides show the condition of a young orchard 

 when the heads have been properly trimmed. This happens to be 

 in a pear orchard, but the illustration answers pretty well for our 

 present ideas in apple orchard fruits. This tree is headed a little 

 higher at this point than it need to be, but it is headed about right 

 down here. 



That tree is nicely formed and now has a large number of upright 

 shoots. When the tree reaches that stage it is my idea in pruning 

 that those branches should not be headed back. The first year's 

 growth was headed at that point, and the next year at this point 

 here, and the next year here. In a general way it was headed to 

 about that line. In the last year of its growth it threw up all 

 these single shoots. When a tree has reached that age my idea is 

 the shoots should be thinned and not crowded too much; and if 

 we head back at all we cut off just the tops. If we cut off here 

 and here and here we will have the same growth we have down 

 here, and down here, and again down here. We shall have cut back 

 so much as to unbalance the root system. As a result we have a 

 heavy wood growth and no formation of fruit buds, or very few. 

 At this stage we shall have a greater growth of fruit buds if we 

 simply thin out rather than cut back, and that stage should 

 prevail for some time. 



This picture is simply taken to show another orchard. This 



