FRUIT TREES. Chap. IV. 79 



such as / (Fig. 3.), I do away with it. Of the shoots emerging from the pruned branches, I 

 nip off those originating on the side next to the wall, or on the opposite side, & I save 

 only those that are well placed, unless the tree shows too much vigor. In that case it's 

 better to leave the useless branches to absorb excess sap than to allow the good branches 

 to degenerate into suckers. In June I train the young branches that I've saved. Noting that 

 branch K has become too strong & grown too much & is turning into a sucker, I pinch it 

 off close to its origin rather than cutting it off completely, so that small branches will 

 emerge from it. Otherwise the sap, blocked from escaping via this route, gets carried too 

 profusely into the upper branches & causes them to deteriorate. 



III rd . YEAR. Second Pruning. In mid-February, with the tree in the condition 

 shown (Fig. J.), vigorous, but not excessively so, & not overgrown, sufficiently provided 

 with branches well arranged to give it shape & even soon to yield fruit, I prune the strong 

 branches L, M, N, O to ten or twelve inches & the medium branches to four or six inches. 

 I leave intact, or prune back to two or three buds, all of the small branches that are 

 necessary to draw off the sap, & that for the most part I'll cut off if the tree is weak. 

 Finally, I keep branch P short so that it won't take advantage of its position at the top of 

 the tree & its origin from a sucker to strengthen & to draw too much sap onto branch L. 

 Fig. 4. shows how this tree is pruned, made easier to the extent that it was prepared by 

 nipping off all useless & poorly located branches. 



Fig. 5. In May, when the pruned branches appear to have produced many new 

 ones, an indication of considerable vigor in the tree, I nip them off judiciously, 



