CHAPTER VII 

 PRUNING YOUNG TREES 



THE writers have been impressed, when visiting the 

 various fruit districts, by the lack of knowledge on the 

 part of many growers of the requirements of young trees. 

 No doubt a large majority of our fruit-growers have had 

 no experience in the business, and so have everything to 

 learn, and surely no part of orchard management is more 

 important than to start the young trees just right. On 

 this depends not only the future usefulness of the orchard, 

 but in many instances large numbers of young trees fail 

 to live through the first season for the simple reason that 

 they are not properly started. In several instances the 

 writers have been asked to investigate the cause of the 

 dying of newly planted trees, and on visiting the orchard 

 it was found that the trees were planted just as they had 

 been received from the nursery. No doubt some of them 

 had been injured somewhat by exposure and improper 

 care, but with the best of treatment it is difficult for the 

 mutilated root system of a transplanted tree to establish 

 itself and at the same time support a vigorous or over- 

 grown top. 



It is not generally realized that when a tree is taken from 

 the nursery row, a large part of the root system is left in 

 the ground. The balance between the roots and the top 

 is thus destroyed, and obviously a part of the top should 



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