58 ESTABLISHING THE ORCHARD 



Low Heading. — Turning now to the arguments for the low 

 headed tree we have the following: 



1. There is less damage from winds. This would apply to 

 mature trees where in summer the number of windfalls and in 

 winter danger of damage from ice-storm would be reduced. It 

 would also apply to the young trees. A tree such as is shown in 

 Figure 23 will be much more liable to damage from winds than 

 such a tree as is shown in Figure 24. 



2. There is less danger from sun-scald. In some sections this 

 trouble is very serious, in others it seldom occurs. In the former 

 sections low heads ought always to be used. 



3. Spraying can be done more cheaply and much more 

 thoroughly. This latter is especially important in sections where 

 the San Jose scale is abundant, but it counts with any spraying. 



4. Pruning can be done more cheaply and easily. 



5. It is easier and cheaper to harvest the fruit. As soon as 

 a man has to use a ladder to do liis work he adds to the expense 

 of the operation, whatever it may be. The longer the ladder the 

 greater the expense. AVith low headed peach trees all the pick- 

 ing can be done from the ground, and with apples, a great part 

 of it (Fig. 24). 



6. In extreme eases, like the tree shown in Figure 23, and to 

 a less extent in less extreme cases, the fruiting of the tree is 

 delayed when the head is raised because the oldest branches are 

 the lowest ones and these are removed to raise the head. 



Several other minor arguments are used by the enthusiastic 

 advocates of low heads, but the foregoing are the most important 

 and seem to justify fully the practice. The one argument of 

 ease and cheapness of doing the work on the trees is in itself 

 enough to settle the question. Of course, it does not necessarily 

 follow that a tree headed high will be allowed to continue its 

 growth high, but this is usually the ease. The man who wants 

 his trees headed low usually sees to it that the leaders are kept 

 reasonably low. 



Planting Distances. — There are several general questions 

 which will perhaps come here as well as elsewhere. The first 

 of these is the matter of the proper distance apart for the trees. 



