PRUNING OF DWARF APPLES. 31 



ginal shoots to grow straight up, till they get to 

 the height you wish them, say five or six feet or 

 higher, then cut their tops off, and keep all the 

 young shoots spurred in every year, to about two 

 buds, nearly the same as you would a red currant 

 tree ; by this means it will throw all those spurs 

 into bloom buds, and I have seen by this process, 

 the trees hanging from bottom to top with apples 

 like ropes of onions ; and by pruning away all 

 that superfluous wood, the fruit receives the 

 whole strength and nourishment of the tree ; and 

 besides, by this method, you not only throw your 

 trees into bearing, and produce more fruit, but 

 they have the advantage of the sun, so essential 

 both for their flavour and beauty ; the trouble is 

 no more than that of pruning your currants and 

 gooseberries, and surely apples are worth as 

 much attention. 



When the trees begin to get old, you may 

 occasionally leave a clean young shoot, and the 

 following year remove an old one, and by so 

 doing you will keep your trees in a young, heal- 

 thy, bearing state. 



Dwarf apples on the small Paradise stock, may 



