394 FUNDAMENTALS OF FRUIT PRODUCTION 



matter that can be of no real importance in fruits where coloration does 

 not depend on the light reaching the fruit itself. From the very nature of 

 the case the central-leader type of tree forms more scaffold limbs than the 

 open-centered tree and consequently it is less likely to split at the crotches. 

 It is often more bushy-topped but this condition is not necessary. 



It has become a generally accepted practice to train certain fruits in 

 certain styles. For instance, peaches are almost always grown in the 

 vase form and pears are trained with a central leader. In some cases 

 whole sections use a certain style for practically all their tree fruits. To 

 what extent these practices are based on careful comparisons of different 

 methods of training for the fruit or the locality in question and to what 

 extent they are followed simply because the custom has become estab- 

 lished is often difficult to say. A careful study of training methods might 

 lead in many cases to some change that would be of considerable com- 

 mercial importance to the particular district or for the particular variety. 



The general method of procedure in training a tree to the central- 

 leader type is each year to prune back the central and upper shoot or 

 leader less severely than the lateral shoots or hmbs surrounding it. If an 

 open-centered tree is desired the opposite method should be followed. 

 It is a mistake in attempting to train a tree to the open-centered type 

 to cut out entirely the interior and central limbs. This merely provokes 

 the production of water sprouts to take their place and more cutting out 

 must be done. By cutting back the interior and upper shoots and limbs 

 more severely than the outer, the former are subordinated and the latter 

 are made the dominant limbs in the tree. In other words, it is easier 

 and better to grow an open-centered tree with a comparatively open 

 center — with only a few, small, subordinate, fruiting branches in the 

 interior — than one with a completely open or hollow center. 



A different type of training that is coming into favor is known as 

 the "modified leader." As the name suggests, it is intermediate between 

 the open-centered and the leader tree. It is developed by training to the 

 leader type for the first 4 or 5 years and from then on as an open-centered 

 tree. This results in a tree with a central leader extending some 3 to 5 

 feet above the point where it was originally headed and then an open 

 center above that. It possesses practically all the advantages of the two 

 other types and few or none of their disadvantages. 



Trees of Different Shape. — Less attention need be devoted to the 

 general shape of the tree than to certain other features of its training. 

 Nevertheless, there are occasional arguments for flat-topped or round- 

 topped trees or other forms. In general, little emphasis should be placed 

 on these particular shapes. It is not a bad plan to allow the tree con- 

 siderable freedom in assuming the general shape that is natural. Training 

 for form should be limited to correcting minor defects rather than altering 

 profoundly the shape. 



