APPLES # 



133 



The Figure Shows Two Jonathan Apple Trees. Five Months 

 Old. "The Old" shows the ordinary tree as it is set in 

 the orchard and trimmed : "The New" shows the nursery 

 headed tree set in the orchard ready for trimming. 



Beauties. Professor W. S. Thornber, for- 

 merly of the Washington State College 

 at Pullman, Wash., stated at the State 

 Horticultural Meeting at Prosser, Wash.. 

 1911. that early bearing does not injure 

 a tree, assuming that the allotted time 

 for which fillers are to occupy the ground 

 is eight years. 



Following the above method we have 

 produced a tree that will bear fully 25 

 per cent more fruit, and bear this fruit 

 from one to two years earlier than trees 

 planted in the ordinary way. Whether 

 it will become extensively practiced as a 

 system for planting the permanent or- 

 chard is yet to be demonstrated. We 

 have, however, commercial orchardists 

 who bought these trees last year for 

 fillers and who are placing orders for 

 both permanent trees and fillers to be 

 headed in the nursery according to our 



method of growing trees for 

 fillers. It is claimed that this 

 enables the trees to make a 

 better root system as the top 

 growth is checked 30 to 40 

 days by pruning and in the 

 meantime the root system is 

 growing. After this period 

 the tree instead of growing a 

 five or six-foot whip in length, 

 makes a branched top which 

 becomes a permanent part of 

 tlie tree, being equal to a two- 

 .\ ear-old tree. 



We find our way of treat- 

 ing them in the nursery 

 makes a balanced head and 

 root system, and nature has 

 developed a perfect tree, head- 

 ed near the ground, and it is 

 now past what we call the 

 "dehorning system," as it re-, 

 quires very little pruning 

 from now on. 



The commercial tree should 

 be low and spreading and 

 should be made without too 

 much wood cutting which 

 causes black heart. In plant- 

 ing a nursery-headed tree you 

 have the advantage of setting 

 the heavy side to the wind, 

 while in the ordinary tree you do not 

 know which is going to be the heavy 

 side, and if the orchard is in the care 

 of unskilled labor it is likely to be spoil- 

 ed by improper pruning. 



A. B. C.\pps. 

 Prosser. Wash. 



Pruning the To]) 



Some growers leave the pruning of the 

 top of the trees till they are set out in 

 the field, but it would seem that the 

 work might be more conveniently done 

 before the trees are set. This would so 

 reduce the bulk that the trees would be 

 more conveniently handled, and would 

 obviate the necessity of walking over 

 the whole orchard to prune the trees 

 after planting. The ultimate shape of 

 the tree depends largely upon how it is 

 pruned when set. With yearling trees 

 the opei'ation is very simple and consists 



