APPLES 



that mature their wood sufficiently so 

 that they are not in general killed by the 

 winter freezing. These branches are 

 started for the growth of the coming sea- 

 son and the sap which would go to pro- 

 mote the growth of longer shoots that 

 would be cut off the following spring is 

 thrown into the new branches, many of 

 which will be left the next year, and in 

 this manner three years of wood growth, 

 it is believed, can be obtained in two 

 years of this kind of pruning. 



At this point, however, there is some 

 controversy and the theory is not uni- 

 versally accepted. 



Seventh. When a tree is being trans- 

 planted the tops should be cut back at 

 least far enough to correspond with the 

 root pruning necessary in removing from 

 the nursery and setting in the orchard. 

 In the dry climates this cannot be too 

 strongly emphasized, because the dry air 

 tends to rapidly absorb the sap from the 

 young leaves and branches and if there 

 is too much top surface exposed to the 

 dry atmosphere it draws too heavily on 

 the root system which has not yet suffici- 

 ently thrown out tender rootlets to ab- 

 sorb sufficient food and moisture. 



Eighth. Branches are removed when 

 they are so low as to interfere with prop- 

 er cultivation. 



Ninth. Branches are removed when 

 they are so high that it is inconvenient 

 to pick the fruit. 



Tenth. Heavy pruning is often re- 

 sorted to when trees are planted so close 

 together that their branches interfere with 

 each other. 



Eleventh. The proper time for winter 

 pruning is during the dormant period, 

 somewhere between the dropping of the 

 leaves in the early winter and before the 

 opening of spring. It is not well to prune 

 when the wood is frozen, as that seems 

 to injure the tree. The time for summer 

 pruning depends a good deal on the lati- 

 tude. In most countries where apples 

 are grown perhaps about the first of .luly 

 would be the preferable time. 



Twelfth. Trees that tend to head in- 

 ward, or toward the center, should have 



the intertwining branches cut away to 

 give them a more spreading top. 



Thirteenth. Trees that tend naturally 

 to produce overhanging boughs or spread- 

 ing tops should be pruned from the out- 

 side more than from the inside. 



Fourteenth. In pruning, care should 

 be observed in distinguishing between 

 fruit spurs and small limbs that protrude 

 from the branches. In cutting away 

 fruit spurs we destroy the possibility of 

 producing fruit. 



A summary of these rules would be 

 about as follows: 



Remove branches to invigorate other 

 branches; remove branches that interfere 

 with the growth of more important 

 branches; remove branches that give the 

 tree an undesirable shape; remove 

 branches that pull the top in the wrong 

 direction; remove branches that are dis- 

 eased; remove enough of the top to cor- 

 respond with the root; remove Ijranches 

 that interfere with cultivation; remove 

 branches that are too high for the con- 

 venient gathering of fruit; prune any 

 time when the tree is dormant and the 

 wood is not frozen ; do not cut away the 

 fruit spurs. 



Pliotoiarraphs of Trees Headed Both High 

 and Low 



In the orchard of the Editor, North 

 Yakima, Washington, were a number of 

 trees, to which we have referred, 

 which, when young, were damaged by 

 rabbits. The owner at that time had to 

 decide between cutting them off at or 

 near the ground or digging them n\> in 

 order to plant new trees. He decided to 

 cut them off. The trees are now sixteen 

 years old. On April 4, 1912, photographs 

 were taken and measurements made in 

 order to determine the comparative size 

 of these trees with others in the same 

 row. same varieties, same age, and the 

 same conditions as nearly as two trees 

 growing twenty feet apart can be said to 

 grow under the same conditions. We 

 might have selected a number of other 

 trees that would give about the same re- 

 sults, but these were believed to be suf- 

 ficient to illustrate the facts and prin- 

 ciples involved. 



