204 



PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING 



follow with such trees is to do most of the heading-back 

 in June and most of the thinning out in March or April, 

 or whenever the winter pruning is done. However, 

 should the trees, after they are pruned in June, make such 

 a rank growth that they need some topping-back again 

 the following spring, by all means do it. 



In nearly all cases, it will be advisable to do some top- 

 ping-back of the terminals, or else the terminal bud will 



incline to continue this 

 growth, producing a 

 long, leggy branch. If 

 no topping is done in 

 spring, it will be nec- 

 essary to give these 

 shoots a heavy heading- 

 back in summer to pre- 

 vent their becoming 

 too long before produc- 

 ing desirable laterals. 

 During the summer 

 any undesirable growth 

 should be removed 

 from these young trees 

 branches which will 

 never be of any value 

 to the tree and are 

 growing at the expense of some branch which should be 

 developed. Caution, however, must be exercised against 

 the too strenuous thinning-out of young trees, especially 

 the thinning-out of lateral branches. 



This pruning young trees, while it does not, as a rule, 

 directly induce fruitfulness, will tend to bring the trees 

 up to the critical period in much better condition than 

 otherwise, since it tends to balance the tree; and since- it 

 distributes the pruning over two periods of the year, it 

 eliminates the necessity for very vigorous pruning which 

 many fruit growers give trees. The heavy winter prun- 



FIG. 16S TOO MUCH SHADING BY UPPER 



BRANCHES KILLED THIS TWIG 

 This old, much branched Italian Prune fruit 

 snur is being starved by lack of 1'ght. Some 

 of its branches are already dead; the living 

 ones lack in vigor. Only a few fruit buds and 

 these near the tips. Soon the whole spur will 

 die as the result of too much shade from 

 branches above. 



