THE APPLE AND PEAR 121 



and was probably not more than six inches long. It had ap- 

 parently borne at least five apples. 



This is practically the only way in which apples and pears 

 are produced, upon these little spurs, so that the man who gets 

 enthusiastic for cleanliness and prunes off all of these little spurs 

 from his apple and pear trees is simply spoiling his chance of 

 getting any fruit from that particular part of the tree. Just 

 contrast the pear branch shown in Figure 48, with its wealth of 

 these little spurs, with the one shown in Figure 47. In the one 



FIG. 48. A pear branch well supplied with fruit spurs. Such a branch is capable of bearing 



a maximum crop. 



case the owner stands a chance to have his tree loaded down 

 with fruit, while in the other he can not by any possibility get 

 fruit from that part of the tree where the fruit spurs have been 

 cleaned away. 



Two other facts in connection with these little spurs ought 

 to be kept firmly in mind. The first is that, as already hinted, 

 they continue to bear for a long series of years. It is nothing 

 uncommon for one of these spurs to continue to bear for twelve 

 or fifteen years and as it branches considerably it may produce 



