PRUNING BEARING APPLE TREES 



11 



Figure 7. Rhode Island Greening tree forty-five years old. unpruned for six years. The interior 

 of the tree is very thick, and here are borne small apples. The outer part of the tree is still well, 

 exposed to light. Many trees thus treated show a great deal of dead and dying wood. 



Table 7 shows the yields of Wealthy trees in Block K now 17 years old. In 

 order to show the differences in yield of the four rows pruned alike, each row is 

 given separately and may be compared with the nearest rows receiving different 

 pruning. 



Table 7. — The effect of pruning on average annual yields — Block K, 



Wealthy. 



(Pounds per tree) 



No pruning 



Light pruning. . . . 

 Light pruning. . . . 

 Moderate pruning 



First 

 Row 



113 

 142 

 171 

 111 



Average 



126 

 144 

 140 

 117 



There are considerable differences in yields of the rows pruned alike but the 

 average of the two lots of lightly pruned trees differs by only four pounds and 

 exceeds that of both the unpruned and the moderately pruned trees. This sug- 

 gests that with these trees of rather low vigor, the increases from light pruning 

 may have some significance and that the heavier pruning may have had an effect 

 in decreasing yields. However, it would have been better, from a practical stand- 

 point, to increase the vigor of the trees by better cultural methods rather than 

 by pruning. 



The Clark Orchard includes other varieties and the experiments have con- 



