79 



change has been coincident with a similar change in 



poUcy favorable to the cultivation of orchards. One 



of the old arguments against low-headed trees was 



that the low heads interfered with cultivation. The 



simple fact now is that cultivation is more common than 



it used to be, and a great 



deal more thorough, while 



at the same time modern 



orchards are trained with 



much shorter trunks than 



those of a decade ago. 



Indeed the most ardent 



advocates of low-headed 



trees are, in the majority 



of cases, the very men 



who also practice the 



most thorough systems of 



cultivation. 



Low heads undoubted- 

 ly have many advantages. 

 The trees are stronger 

 and less likely to blow 

 over. This is most con- 

 spicuously the case dur- 

 ing the first few years of 

 growth. A young tree 

 with a bushy top on a 

 trunk 8 feet long is pecul- 

 iarly vulnerable to wind 

 and ice storms. It is also 

 subject to many other attacks from which the low- 

 headed tree is comparatively safe. Sun-scald is 

 always much worse on long trunks than on short 

 ones. In fact, nearly all the disorders to which 



SUTTON BEAUTY 



Headed too hisfh 



