APPLES 



285 



be done better by withholding cultiva- 

 tion and irrigation or l)y what is termed 

 summer pruning. Top pruning produces 

 wood w'hile root pruning reduces wood. 

 Checking growth induces fruittulness. 

 The season of pruning influences fruitful- 

 ness and for that reason it is better to 

 summer prune for fruit and winter prune 

 for wood. Climate and locality may affect 

 the time of pruning. 



Young trees .grow ra|)idly and make 

 strong, upright growth, but as they get 



Fig. 1. Improper Method of Cutting the Limbs. 



older and come into bearing the tops 

 spread out and the growth is less vigor- 

 ous. Bearing trees require less top prun- 

 ing, and this seems to be especially true 

 in a dry climate. 



Every apple grower is confronted every 

 winter with the question of how best to 

 prune his trees. The heaviest pruning 

 in proportion to the amount of tree top 

 should be done during the first three to 

 five years of the tree's growth. During 

 this time the apple tree should be prop- 

 erly started and be well pruned so that 

 when it comes into bearing it will not 

 be necessary to prune it severely. 



Two forms are generally considered in 

 the starting of the young apple tree in 

 the orchard, the low and high-headed 

 tree. The choice of either one of these 

 forms depends to a great extent on the 

 cultural methods to be followed by the 

 orchardist, and upon the climatic condi- 

 tions. The high-headed tree is better 



adapted to Eastern sections while the low 

 headed trees are preferred for New 

 Mexico, 



The first pruning of the young apjUe 

 tree, after it has been transplanted to 

 the apple orchard, should be carefully 

 done as at this time we determine the 

 height of the trunk. The top should be 

 cut back to about 12 to 18 inches from 

 the ground. The following spring a num- 

 ber of liml3s will develop from the trunk. 

 Three to five limbs should only be allowed 

 to form the scaffold. At the next prun- 

 ing, the following spring, these scaffold 

 limbs are again cut back somewhat and 

 any interfering limbs are also removed. 

 At the third and even the fourth pruning 

 the limbs should be cut back and the 

 tree rounded up generally. By this 

 method of pruning the tree is shaped up 

 and properly started. 



While there are some fruit growers 

 who claim that the bearing apple tree 

 should be cut back every year the na- 

 ture of the growth in this climate does 

 not warrant such practice and on the 

 whole the results are not so satisfactory. 

 The bearing tree should be pruned as 

 lightly as possible. It does not produce 

 the same rank growth that the young 

 tree does during the first few years. A 

 great deal of the vitality of the bearing 

 tree is used up in the production of the 

 fruit, and in fruit spurs for the follow- 

 ing crop, as it takes two seasons for the 

 apple to form its first buds. While the 

 tree does not require severe pruning it 

 should be pruned a little every year. All 

 the dead and broken limbs should be re- 

 moved as well as those which interfere. 

 Avoid the cutting of large branches. 



The limbs should be cut as near the 

 trunk as possible so the wound may heal 

 over quickly. Never cut limbs so as to 

 leave a stump one or more inches in 

 length. Such stumps if left never heal 

 over. The healing of the wound depends 

 on the activity of the cabium layer. 

 This layer is most active in the spring 

 after the tree starts to growing. The 

 longer the wound remains exposed the 

 more it will dry and crack. Wounds 

 which are made in the fall or mid-winter 

 necessarily remain longer before the cam- 



