THE APPLE TREE 



prune is early in the spring before the sap 

 flows. The wounds heal over quickly and do 

 not dry out in the dry winds of the winter. 



Most of our varieties produce from three to 

 five apples to each fruit spur. When the 

 apples reach the size of a five cent piece, thin 

 them and leave only one apple to a spur. 

 There is less danger of insect and disease in- 

 jury, a larger, better flavored and more highly 

 colored fruit is produced, and most important 

 of all, the "off year" is eliminated. The 

 strength of the apple tree goes into the pro- 

 duction of seed ; therefore on removing all but 

 one apple to a spur, the seed has been removed 

 and this strength that naturally would go into 

 the seed is stored up in the fruit bud for next 

 year's crop. Thinning in the North begins 

 about July 1. 



The insect and disease enemies of the apple 

 tree are many and only a few of the more im- 

 portant ones are considered here. 



The three scale insects, San Jose, Oyster 

 Shell, and Scurvy Scales may be held in check 



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