122 



PRUNING 



spur shown in Figure 47 was about ten years old and was probably 

 not more than six inches long. It had borne at least five apples. 

 This is practically the only way in which most varieties of 

 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 young tree shown in Figure 



FiQ. 48.— A pear branch we'l supplied with fruit spurs. Such a branch is eapable of bearing 

 a maximum crop. 



46. In the one case the owner stands a chance to have his tree 

 loaded down with fruit, while in the other he can not by any possi- 

 bility 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 

 in that time ten apples. Think of the value of such a spur to the 



