APPLES 



295 



tempt should be made to make all vari- 

 eties conform to a given type, like trees 

 in a hedge. In general, limbs which are 

 parallel and close together, or limbs which 

 cross and interfere with each other, 

 should be removed or thinned. Trees of 

 an upright habit, like Sutton or Maiden 

 Blush, should have the center of the top 

 opened, while trees of a spreading habit, 

 like Jonathan or Rhode Island Greening, 

 should have the lower limbs removed. 

 To keep the trees within bounds, the 

 leading branches may be cut back one to 

 three feet about every other year until 

 the bearing age is reached; after which 

 the production of fruit should sufficiently 

 check superfluous growth of wood. 



The question of high heads or of low 

 heads is a perennial one. In general. 

 however, the tendency at the present time 

 is to maintain as low heads as is consis- 

 tent with cultivation. The ideal tree is 

 vase-formed, the lower branches starting 

 about two and one-half feet from the 

 ground, and ascending in such a manner 

 as to permit of reasonably close approach 

 to the tree in cultivating. This may be 

 accomplished by cutting off those limbs 

 which tend to grow out horizontally or 

 which hang from the lower side of the 

 leaders. 



TThy Prnning Is Important 



It is astonishing to find how little the 

 average orchardist thinks, when pruning 

 his trees, of the actual problems at issue. 

 Pruned trees are almost always more vig- 

 orous than unpruned ones, because the 

 food taken up by the roots is concentrated 

 into a smaller number of branches. 



Pruning is practiced to produce larger 

 and better fruit; to keep the plant within 

 manageable limits; to remove superfluous 

 or injurious parts; to facilitate spraying, 

 tillage and harvesting; to train the plant 

 to some desired form. 



Plants naturally grow from the upper- 

 most buds. By pruning in one way this 

 tendency is augmented, in another way 

 it is checked. As a rule, in dealing with 

 fruit trees, the latter end is desired, since 

 the principle that "checking growth in- 

 duces fruitfulness" is universally recog- 

 nized. The heading in of young growths 



tends to develop lateral and dormant buds, 

 or to thicken the top; so the question of 

 heading resolves itself into a question of 

 personal ideals. To secure thick topped 

 trees, heading is necessary. It has, how- 

 ever, the very marked advantage of in- 

 ducing the development of fruit buds near 

 the body of the tree, rather than far out 

 on the limbs. This, in the case of plums 

 and other tender wooded plants, is an 

 important consideration. 



Fruit bearing is determined more by 

 the habit and condition of the tree, than 

 by the extent of pruning. In other words, 

 it is to a certain extent an individual 

 characteristic. Pruning, however, may be 

 made a means of thinning the fruit, and 

 thus improving the size and quality of 

 that which remains by removing super- 

 fluous shoots upon which fruit buds are 

 borne. Heading back the annual growth 

 thins peaches; but with the apple, pear 

 and plum, which produce fruit on spurs 

 or miniature branches, on wood of more 

 than one season's growth, older limbs 

 must, of course, be removed in order to 

 effect the desired thinning. 



W. M. MUNSON, 

 Morsantown. W. Va. 



Opinions of L. C. Torbett 



In pruning a fruit bearing plant like 

 the apple, attention must be given not 

 only to the height and formation of the 

 head, but to the removal of wood as well. 

 The apple bears fruit on spurs which are 

 developed from wood one year old or 

 more. For that reason, therefore, the re- 

 moval of wood which carries fruit spurs 

 reduces the crop the tree is capable of 

 bearing. This, then, is a practicable way 

 of thinning the fruit. Besides accom- 

 plishing this result pruning can be used 

 to lessen the annual growth and force 

 the energj' of the plant which would nat- 

 urally be used in making wood into fruit, 

 thus increasing its size or enabling the 

 tree to carry a larger quantity than 

 would be possible were a normal wood 

 growth permitted. 



Forming the Head 



Modern orchardists have come to look 

 upon the low-headed tree as more desir- 



