108 



House &■ Garden's 



r 



1 



The properly 

 pruned apple tree 

 has a loiu head, an 

 open center, and 

 is not cluttered up 

 with a lot of un- 

 productive b u I 

 strength - consuiii 

 ing shoots 



SIMPLE 



SURGERY 



for 



FRUIT 



TREES 



( L o-djer left ) A 

 view of the same 

 tree before prun- 

 ing shows a typi- 

 cal example of the 

 sort of neglect 

 which cuts down 

 the quality and 

 size of the crop 



ft ;,/ I. ,/, ,1 ' 



When branches are 

 removed they 

 shoidd be sawed 

 off cleanly close to 

 the trunk, leaving 

 no stubs 



Allowing several branches 



to develop close together 



often results in bad 



splitting 



(Lower center t Pruning 



and spraying the fruit 



trees for scale are both 



tasks for the winter 



A very weak for- 

 mation. Sooner or 

 later the tree will 

 split at this triple 

 crotch and be 

 ruined 



Y "'^*3^; 



Young trees as well as old need con- 

 structive pruning. At this period th 

 developing form of the tree is guided 

 in the way it should go and its mature 

 success largely determined 



i 



The thin, weak interior branches should 

 be cut out. They bear little or no 

 fruit, and during the growing season do 

 much to obstruct that free air circulation 

 so necessary to crop perfection 



