PRINCIPLES OF FRUIT PRODUCTION 



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will develop longer limbs to get more leaves and these limbs will have to be 

 cut off later to bring the tree within bounds. If there are twigs among the 

 trunk leaves, they should be cut off the following spring. 



How Fruit Buds are Borne. Much of the success of fruit growing 

 depends on intelligent pruning, and this on a knowledge of the way each 

 plant produces its fruit buds. Apples and pears produce theirs mostly on 

 short twigs in alternate years with leaf buds. These fruit spurs become 

 gnarly as they grow old, but as long as they continue to bear they should 

 be allowed to remain, unless the tree is producing too heavily. Then some 

 may be cut out. Other trees that produce fruit more or less on spurs 



BEFORE AND AFTER PRUNING. 



are cherry, plum, apricot, almond, currant and gooseberry. Some produce 

 their buds on the sides of the shoots, not on spurs. Of these the peach is the 

 leader, though almonds, Japanese plums, and apricots also do this more or 

 less. All these trees develop fruit buds one year and blossom the following 

 spring. These fruit buds may be distinguished from leaf buds during winter 

 because they are round-topped and plump instead of pointed and thin. 



There is another group, the plants of which develop blossom buds in 

 the same season as they blossom and bear fruit. Quince and medlar each 

 bear blossoms on the ends of short green shoots developed in early spring. 

 Raspberries, blackberries, dewberries and oranges produce their blossoms 

 more or less terminally on lateral summer shoots. Grape, mulberry, olive 



1 Courtesy of The Macmillan Company, N. Y. From "The Principles of Fruit Growing," by Bailey. 

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