268 The Commercial Apple Industry 



5. Trees trained in this manner have a large capacity for 

 fruiting. 



6. Light and air are admitted to all parts, insuring fruit-spur 

 activity and highly colored fruit. 



7. The resulting tree is low headed and spreading and per- 

 mits economical orchard operations. 



Disadvantages. 



1. More judgment is required in building this type of tree 

 than any of the others. Untrained labor cannot be trusted with 

 the shaping of the trees. 



2. There is danger of some main branches, especially the 

 upper ones, outgrowing the lower ones, thereby suppressing the 

 latter to such an extent that they no longer serve as main or 

 scaffold branches. 



3. When building the young tree, pruners are apt to leave 

 the leader too long or too short as compared with the laterals, 

 thus destroying proper balance. 



GENERAL TREATMENT OF YOUNG TREES 



The foregoing has been a general description of the dif- 

 ferent types of trees, but the reader has gained little infor- 

 mation as to what actually is done each year during 

 the formative period of the tree. The amount of cutting 

 back and thinning out does not vary greatly with the type 

 of training. A more detailed discussion for the modified 

 leader tree will, therefore, serve for the other types as well. 



After first season. 



If there has been a vigorous growth of more than 30 

 inches, the scaffold branches are shortened to about 50 per 

 cent and the leader to 60 per cent. If growth does not 

 exceed 20 inches, the leader is shortened to about 14 inches 

 and the laterals to 10 or 12 inches. When possible, the 



