APPLES 



299 



The low headed tree has many advan- 

 tages over the high headed tree. As a 

 rule no apple tree should be permitted to 

 start its head farther than IS inches from 

 the ground, nor closer than six inches 

 from the ground. A tree with more than 

 IS inches of stem places its fruiting plane 

 almost entirely out of reach of the aver- 

 age man for thinning, harvesting, etc., 

 while the tree with less than six inches 

 of stem is very apt to have trunk rot or 

 to readily split when heavily loaded with 

 fruit. If the West desires to continue to 

 lead in the production of fancy and first- 

 class fruit her orchardists must keep the 

 fruiting planes of their trees within easy 

 reach of the ground for thinning, spray- 

 ing, and harvesting. Our experiments 

 and observations teach that the following 

 methods give the best results for the 

 training of young apple trees: 



First Tear 



Prune the newly planted one-year-old 

 tree in the spring just before growth be- 

 gins to a straight whip unless it means 

 the removal of a large number of buds 

 from that part of the stem between 12 

 and 24 inches from the ground: in the 

 latter case, cut the laterals back to short 

 stubs from one to three buds in length. 

 The smooth pruning gave the best results 

 where it was possible to practice it. After 

 pruning to a whip, cut the top off just 

 above a bud from 18 to 24 inches from 

 the ground. Varieties like the Jonathan 

 may be cut at IS inches or less while 

 varieties like the Rome Beauty and Wag- 

 ener should be headed a little higher. It 

 is frequently difficult to secure sufficient 

 well placed branches upon a large one- 

 year-old transplanted Wagener if it be cut 

 off closer than 24 inches from the ground. 

 If the lower buds for the first 12 inches 

 from the ground start to grow they should 

 be rubbed off early in July unless the 

 stems of the trees are slender and need 

 to be thickened when the buds should be 

 permitted to grow until August or even 

 the following spring, unless they form 

 very strong growths. 



Second Year 



Select from five to seven of the best 

 placed limbs to become the framework of 



the tree, securing as many as possible that 

 point in all directions and that are as far 

 apart on the main stem as possible. Cut 

 off the others close to the main stem and 

 prune the selected ones back to from one- 

 third to one-half of their original length, 

 leaving the most central one as a leader 

 which should be cut from four to six 

 inches longer than the others. The exact 

 length the frame work limbs should be 

 left must be governed entirely by the 

 year's growth. Eight inches should be 

 considered the minimum length and IS 

 the maximum length. In the case of up- 

 right growing varieties prune to outer 

 buds while in the case of spreading sorts 

 prune to inner buds and thereby correct 

 the evil. In windy exposures turn as 

 many limbs as possible toward the wind; 

 also prune the branches very severely on 

 the windward side. 



Third Tear 



Select from two or three limbs per 

 branch of the frame, remove the broken, 

 diseased and superfluous branches, and 

 cut the selected ones back to from one- 

 half to two-thirds of their original length. 

 Again the best length to leave the 

 branches must be governed by the growth. 

 Eighteen to 24 or even 36 inches are 

 reasonable lengths. The leader should 

 still be maintained and the top carefully 

 balanced in order to avoid undesirable 

 growth. It is sometimes necessary to re- 

 move one or more of the framework 

 branches to open the top. This is always 

 allowable and frequently advantageous in 

 the forming of the top. 



Fourth and Fifth Tears 



Select from one to three limbs per 

 branch that were left the preceding year, 

 remove crossing, diseased and superfluous 

 wood and cut back the selected limbs 

 very little and unless the growth is very 

 strong little or no topping is necessary. 

 Thin the top and center as much as pos- 

 sible without leaving it entirely open. In 

 the case of long growths, cut back severe- 

 ly to a branch if possible. In fact, all 

 pruning from now on should be of a thin- 

 ning and very light topping nature. In 

 the fourth to fifth year, summer pruning 

 should begin to be practiced in sections 



