Pruning Mature Trees 139 



axillary buds on the last half of the annual growth; ter- 

 minal buds more frequently give rise to branches, or at 

 most weak flower-bearing shoots. Considering its fruit- 

 ing-habit, then, the quince should receive about the same 

 pruning as the peach. While with some varieties the 

 plant very readily assumes a tree form, others are, at 

 their best, only a bush. A course of severe pruning for 

 the young tree, however, will aid the grower in securing a 

 desirably shaped tree. 



When the tree has reached a bearing age, it should be 

 pruned annually by thinning out the new wood and clip- 

 ping-back that remaining to about two-thirds of its length. 

 With proper pruning, the quince should produce annual 

 growths from 12 to 24 inches in length. Too rank growth 

 is not desirable on account of the stronger fruit-buds being 

 nearer the tips, and in cutting-back such rank growth the 

 pruning must not be too severe. The plant should be 

 made to assume as near a tree form as possible, and then 

 in addition it should be pruned with the idea of growing 

 a goodly supply of new wood each season. 



Pruning the Plum 



Under this head is grouped a large number of species 

 and varieties of fruit differing widely in their habits of 

 growth and of fruit-bearing. Were it not for the fact 

 that common practice seems to discourage the pruning of 

 many varieties to any considerable extent, this would be 

 a difficult subject to handle; no well-defined system of 

 pruning would suit all. In their habits of fruit-bearing 

 the majority of the plums resemble the apricot very much. 

 Still, many of them, like the cherry, show more of an 



