PRUNING YOUNG TREES 



189 



of the Middle West and in California the tree is allowed 

 to carry a large number of laterals, summer pruning or 

 shearing being employed to force out more laterals so 

 as to shade the branches from sun scald. A dense com- 

 pact tree is the result. In the Pacific Northwest the term 

 "globe" or "vase" is seldom used, but almost always the 

 term employed is the "open" tree. Instead of shearing 

 to produce shade, growers prune out and keep the tree 



FIG. 148 



YOUNG YELLOW NEWTOWN 



TREE BEFORE AUGUST 



PRUNING 



AFTER AUGUST PRUNING 



YOUNG YELLOW 



NEWTOWN 



open to admit more light. The general framework, how- 

 ever, of California and Oregon types is the same. 



Our orchardists claim that the advantage of the open 

 tree is that it allows more light to enter the tree, thus 

 causing a better coloring of the fruit ; and second, it pro- 

 duces a tree, broad, spreading and easy to keep low 

 headed. The objections to this tree are : First, it is 

 generally structurally weak, since the scaffold branches 

 issue at one point, thus making weak crotches. If one 

 branch breaks out the tree may be ruined. Second, it 

 is used too generally; it is not adapted to all varieties 



