182 The Fruit-Growers Guide-Book 



In the Western states yearling trees are mostly used 

 for planting and when such is the case the top consists 

 of nothing more than a single whip. This is cut off to 

 within twelve to twenty inches of the ground, depending 

 on how tall it was before pruning. In the case of two- 

 year-old trees, there will have been formed three or more 

 side branches, each of which will be a foot or more long, 

 and all of which need to be shortened in about one-half at 

 the time the tree is planted. 



The shape of the future tree is determined to some ex- 

 tent by the shape given to the tree during its first year, 

 and more especially the height of the head above the 

 ground. In the Western states the orchardists prefer a 

 tree with a low head, while in the East the trees are gen- 

 erally allowed to make a high head. Where one-year-old 

 trees are used there will be no side branches at the time 

 the tree is set, and all of its branches will have to form 

 during the first summer in the premanent plantation. This 

 gives the orchard man an opportunity to place the head 

 just where it is desired, but when the head has been formed 

 in the nursery it frequently happens that it is far too high 

 above the ground. 



In selecting the branches to form the permanent head, 

 from three to five should be taken that are well distributed 

 around the stem of the tree, and at some distance apart 

 up and down the trunk. Where the branches all come out 

 at about the same height it will result in a head that is 

 easily split when the tree is loaded with fruit, and unless 

 the branches are well distributed around the tree it will 

 make the tree more or less one-sided. 



In removing the limbs of a young tree make the cuts 

 slanting and just above a bud, leaving a stub not more 

 than an eighth or quarter of an inch long. A stub 

 of this length will not be so long as to decay before 

 it can be healed over, and it is not so close to the 

 bud as to cause injury through drying out. Heavy winter 

 pruning should be the practice with apple trees during the 

 first four or five years in order to stimulate them into 

 making a strong growth and building up a large frame- 



