444 FUNDAMENTALS OF FRUIT PRODUCTION 



certainty of the results and frequently will find it of great value. The 

 results attending summer pruning in some of the best managed cane 

 fruit plantations furnish ample evidence to this effect. 



Influence on Production. — The grower, however, is interested par- 

 ticularly in knowing whether or not certain specific objects can be accom- 

 plished — or accomplished more readily — by doing the work at one season 

 rather than at another. This really is the question leading to most of 

 the discussion over summer pruning. 



The opinion receiving general acceptance is expressed in the proverb, 

 "prune in winter for wood and in summer for fruit." Quintinye^^ 

 states that summer pruning leads to the formation of fruit buds for the 

 following crop. Hovey,^^ referring particularly to the apple and pear, 

 states that it leads to the formation of fruit spurs and thus indirectly 

 aids in fruit production. Quinn^* recommends pinching back in summer 

 to promote fruitfulness in the pear and Barry'^ recommends this practice 

 even more generally for the same purpose. Waugh^^ states that summer 

 pruning tends to promote fruit-bud formation. Cole,^^ Downing^^ and 

 many others recommend summer pruning in preference to winter pruning, 

 but because wounds made at that time heal more readily than those 

 made at other seasons. On the other hand Pearson^'' states that summer 

 pruning may either promote or repress fruitfulness, depending on how 

 it is done. The general idea is that fruitfulness is promoted by summer 

 pruning through checking growth or weakening the plant. 



Though the majority of the opinions just cited are from American writers, 

 it should perhaps be stated that it is in European countries that the practice is 

 most commonly employed and that it is in those countries that it is generally 

 believed to be of particular value in promoting fruitfulness. In America there 

 is a much greater diversity of opinion. Much of the apparent difference in 

 results attending summer pruning in this country and in Europe is to be explained 

 through the difference in the methods employed. The growers of this country 

 mean by the term summer pruning a pruning similar in kind and in amount to 

 that ordinarily done during the dormant season. On the other hand, summer 

 pruning to the European fruit grower means something entirely different — for 

 the most pai't a pinching or at least a pruning that can be done largely "with 

 the thumb and forefinger." This type of pruning is employed in America neither 

 in summer nor in winter. As explained later under Pinching the practice of 

 summer pruning commonly employed in Europe is hardly applicable here be- 

 cause of economic considerations and consequently the extensive European 

 literature on summer pruning is only of incidental interest to most American 

 fruit growers. 



In the section on Nutrition, data are presented showing that vigor 

 of growth and productiveness are not necessarily antagonistic qualities. 

 Indeed, the largest yields are always obtained from rather vigorous plants. 

 The belief that increased fruitfulness should follow summer pruning as 



