Renovation of Old Orchards 287 



It takes several years to develop fruiting wood and it may 

 be advisable to thin out rather than remove the already ex- 

 isting fruiting wood. 



Very often, however, because of excessively high trees, 

 severe cutting back and thinning out of the remaining tops 

 is necessary. Even in such instances it is unwise to re- 

 move too large a portion of the fruiting wood, even though 

 such wood may be found, as it very often is, at the tips of 

 the larger branches. The orchardist should encourage 

 lateral growth, but should avoid the sacrifice of too great a 

 part of the fruiting area. It is usually advisable to dis- 

 tribute the heavy pruning over a period of several years in 

 order to preserve the balance between the roots and the 

 top, and to prevent sun-scald on the larger limbs through 

 exposure to direct sunlight. 



It is important that the outer parts and tops of all 

 trees should be> well thinned by working from the top 

 and tips of the branches downward. This provides for 

 penetration of sunlight and allows distribution of fruiting 

 wood throughout the entire tree. It is common to see a 

 grower start with the lower trunk limbs and prune severely 

 as far as he can reach conveniently, leaving the outer part 

 of the limbs to bear all the fruit. Ladders are almost in- 

 dispensable in thinning and heading back the tops. 



Each limb should be treated somewhat as a separate tree. 

 Laterals should be thinned out and the remaining ones 

 spaced as on the trunk, special effort being made to bring 

 fruiting area nearer the . ground. By thinning out the 

 brushy tops, water-sprouts may be encouraged farther 

 down on the main limbs. The following year the water- 

 sprouts should be thinned out to a distance of 18 to 24 

 inches apart and cut back severely so that they will throw 



