MATURE TREES 



257 



mcnt. The removal of unnecessary wood and the effort 

 to maintain a well-shaded tree are incidental to the thin- 

 ning out and shortening-in of the annual growths. It is 

 customary to cut out 40 to 60 per cent of the new growths 

 the poorer ones, of course, first and to shorten the bal- 

 ance fully as much. Thus a total of 70 to 80 per cent of 

 the young wood is cut out annually. The arguments 

 against allowing* all the annual wood to grow are that the 



FIG. 219 TREE HEADED BACK MORE SEVERELY THATv IT SHOULD BE AND 



TOO MANY BRANCHES LEFT. IT WILL GIVE A VERY LARGE UPRIGHT 



DENSE GROWTH, LIKE THAT SHOWN IN FIG. 225. 



trees become too thick, too wide spreading, too easily 

 broken down and the fruit too inferior. 



The pruning just referred to is done preferably just 

 before growth starts in spring, when it is comparatively 

 easy to distinguish living buds from those killed by frost 



