86 THE APPLE 



The head should be started low for several reasons. Many 

 young trees are killed each year because their trunks are exposed 

 to the drying afternoon sun. The trunk may be affected by the 

 direct rays of the sun or by the reflection from hot, dry soil or 

 snow. Sunscald in the summer is much more prevalent on high- 

 headed trees than on low ones. The low-headed trees also have 

 the advantage of being more conveniently and cheaply handled as 

 regards pruning, thinning, spraying, and picking the fruit. Then 

 there is less likelihood of damage to the fruit from windstorms. 

 It is possible, however, to start the head too close to the ground 

 for easy cultivation and for the use of burlap bands for the control 

 of the codling moth. A trunk between 20 and 24 inches from the 

 ground to the first limb seems to be about right. Therefore, in 

 planting one-year-old whips, cut them back to about 30 inches 

 from the ground, which will give a space of 10 or 12 inches be- 

 tween the starting points of the lower and the upper limb for the 

 distribution of the scaffold limbs. In this cutting back, make a 

 slanting cut just above a sound bud, which will develop by this 

 pruning into a lateral branch. 



It is also desirable to begin the shaping of the orchard tree at 

 this early date. The form of the tree will depend somewhat on 

 the ideals of the grower. There are two distinct types seen in the 

 fruit sections of the country — the open-headed, or vase-shaped, tree, 

 and the pyramidal tree, which is pruned with a leader. The open- 

 headed tree seems to be constantly gaining in popularity, and is 

 by far the commonest form found in the newly planted sections. 

 The ideal for this type is a spreading tree with an open center. 

 When the center is kept open and the branches are thinned out 

 so that sunlight is admitted freely, much fruit is borne on the 

 central branches, as well as on the outside limbs, and fruit spurs 

 are found all along the branches extending nearly to the main 

 trunk of the tree. 



Pruning to this vase shape can be overdone, however. Trees 

 cannot all be pruned in the same manner, without regard to variety 

 characteristics. Under the same treatment the Jonathan and the 

 Ben Davis make very shapely trees, and the Rhode Island Green- 

 ing becomes too spreading. The Rhode Island Greening be- 

 ing naturally a spreading type should not be allowed to spread 



