210 



PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING 



normally excessive it is sometimes found advisable even 

 to check this by growing crops, such as hay or grain, be- 

 tween the trees. 



169. Applications of pruning principles to young trees. 

 At the time the tree is given its first pruning we should 

 definitely settle the question of head (158). Most growers 



after they have headed the 

 tree, pay no more attention to 

 it until the following spring, 

 when they are ready for the 

 second pruning. In many cases 

 this is a mistake. It will be 

 found very advisable in May 

 and June to go through the or- 

 chard and look over the newly 

 set trees carefully. At this 

 time, certain very small shoots 

 or buds should be rubbed off. 

 If one branch is growing at the 

 expense of all the others, it may 

 be suppressed. The orchardist 

 may do very much the first 

 year to start the tree in the 

 proper way, and to put it in 

 better condition for the second 

 year's growth. 



Only in rare cases will it be 

 advisable to give the trees a 

 systematic pruning the first 

 year, because it will be only 

 occasionally that the trees will make a sufficiently 

 rank growth to warrant such a pruning. Many young 

 trees do not make much top the first year; they are build- 

 ing roots and getting firmly established. In cases, how- 

 ever, where they have made a strong growth, it is sug- 

 gested that the trees be summer-pruned as soon as they 

 have made sufficient growth, so that new laterals may be 



FIG. 174 TYPICAL FIVE-YEAR 

 WINTER NELIS PEAR 



