98 POMOLOGY 



5. As a rule, it is desirable to remove the "suckers" or 

 "water-sprouts " that may arise throughout the tree. Strong 

 sucker growth along the main limb may be an evidence of 

 decline in the branch and the outer extremities may be 

 robbed of vitality if they are allowed to develop. On the 

 other hand, it is often desirable to retain a portion for re- 

 placing limbs. In such a case, it is usually desirable to head 

 them back and treat in about the same way as a young tree. 



85. Renovation pruning. — The dehorning of apple trees 

 or the cutting back of one-third, one-half or even more of 

 the tops of old trees, leaving naked branches from which to 

 grow a new top, has had its advocates. This procedure re- 

 quires great caution, for it is not unconmion to find that trees 

 subnormal in vitality may have their death hastened by 

 such a practice, although for the first two or three years the 

 operation appears successful. It is usually better to cut 

 back a portion of the tree at a time and always cut to a side 

 branch rather than trust to the outgrowth of "suckers" 

 or water-sprouts. Such trees should be stimulated by til- 

 lage or the application of manures or fertilizers as a safe- 

 guard against injury. The peach, on the other hand, 

 may be headed-back severely with comparative impunity. 

 Branches may often be developed in desirable places on an 

 old tree by making use of water-sprouts which arise in those 

 places. These sprouts may come into bearing in about three 

 years and are handled in pruning in much the same way as a 

 young tree. 



86. Summer pruning. — As dormant pruning has been 

 widely advocated to induce vigorous wood growth, so sum- 

 mer pruning has been recommended to encourage fruit- 

 fulness. The practice is an old one and has commonly been 

 credited as a means of bringing tardy bearers into fruiting. 

 There is veiy little experimental evidence on which to base 

 this teaching, but it is well entrenched in the literature. 



