APPLES IN NURSERY. 21 



five or six shoots, they cannot be in a better 

 state for general planting, for their shoots 

 likewise are formed alternately from the stem, 

 which, when they get large, causes every limb 

 to receive free and equal nourishment from the 

 main stem. 



As the trees will not be all fit this season, it 

 is necessary to be careful how those are pruned 

 which are left, in order to keep their heads 

 young, free, and flourishing ; if the stem of the 

 tree should not be higher than you may wish 

 it, the best way will be to trim the lower shoots 

 clean off, leaving only the two top ones, and 

 cut those two down to about three or four buds 

 each ; or if you wish the tree lower, you must 

 cut it down to the two bottom shoots, and be 

 careful when you are pruning at this season, 

 to cut as close as you can to a bud ; for what 

 wood you leave above the bud becomes a dead 

 substance, and if it does no other injury it 

 greatly disfigures the tree, besides making it 

 awkward to remove after the tree has formed a 

 head. 



The above instructions are from the time 



