HIGH OR LOW HEADS FOR APPLE TREES. 37 



one sort of top can be kept as symmetrical and as open 

 to light as another. Half the difRculties of pruning are 

 done away with when one decides to lot the top take its 

 natural form. If one attempts to shape his trees to some 

 model he will be liable to constant disappointment and 

 exasperation. He will find mauy trees stubbornly con- 

 trary. He will cut and train and worry for a few years, 

 and find in the end that the tree has the mastery. 



CHAPTER X. 

 HIGH OR LOW HEADS FOR APPLE TREES. 



This subject is entirely unworthy the controversy it 

 has occasioned. Extremes in orcharding are as obnox- 

 ious as in other pursuits. It is evident that a top which 

 rests upon the ground is a nuisance, and equally evident 

 that one which is trained up beyond reach is scarcely less 

 so. The head must be high enough to allow a team to 

 work under it, and it must be easy of access for a 

 man and basket. AVith a properly trained team it is not 

 necessary that the limbs be much above their backs. It 

 is a good rule to start the top high enough to clear a 

 horse. At such a height, if properly pruned, the top 

 should be easy of access. 



It is an erroneous notion that a low top is the easier 

 to pick from and to prune. It is easier to climb into a 

 tree than it is to crawl under it and into it, with no room 

 for standing up under it. It is also a mistake to suppose 

 that low trees hold their apples better during winds. 



