FRUITS FOR THE HOME GROUNDS 



pruned; the fruit is more readily thinned and harvested; crop and 

 tree are less subject to injury by wind; the trunk is less liable to 

 injury by sun-scald, winter-killing, and parasites; the top is more 

 quickly formed, and the low-headed tree soonest bears fruit. 



By low-headed is meant a distance from earth to the first limb 

 of from 1 to 2 feet. The peach may be headed at a lower distance; 

 the plum, pear, and cherry somewhat higher; while the apple should 

 approach the upper limit. 



„, „ , Two types of top are open to choice — the vase-form 



the Top ^^^ ^^^ globe-form. In the vase-form the frame- 



work of the tree consists of a short trunk surmounted 

 by four or five main branches ascending obliquely. In the globe- 

 form the trunk is continued above the branches, forming the center of 

 the tree. There are several modifications of each of these. In most 

 climates the open-headed, vase-formed tree is best for the peach, and 

 the close-centered, two-story tree is best for all other fruits. What- 

 ever the form, the lowest branches should be longest, so that the 

 greatest possible leaf-surface will be exposed to the sun and light. 

 Too Much ^^^ several years after planting, the peach alone 



Pruning excepted, fruit trees need to be pruned only to train 



the tree. Just how much to prune young trees 

 depends upon the fruit, the variety, the soil, and the climate. Fruit- 

 growers, as a rule, prune trees 

 far too nmch, thereby increas- 

 ing the growth of wood and 

 of leaf-surface and delaying 

 the fruiting of the plant. If 

 trees were originally well 

 selected, all that is needed 

 is to remove an occasional 

 branch which starts out in 

 the wrong place — the sooner 

 clone the better — and to take 

 out dead, injured, or crossed 

 limbs. The peach, some 

 plums, and some pears may 

 need heading-in, and a weak 

 or sickly tree may require 

 somewhat more severe prun- 

 ing. 



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Prune S.0 as to let iii tin siinslinic 



42 



