57 



Should the ti-ee stiU make heavy growth it wiU be necessary to again let 

 these leaders go impruned for a season, the heavy crops of fruit will then steady 

 the gi-owth. 



The leaders in this tree must not again be forked or branched, for we have 

 ample for the requirements of the tree. All the necessary leaders should be 

 obtained in any variety of tree by the fifth season, and they must all be obtained 

 before the leaders are allowed to run unpruned. 



Fig. (11. 

 Ths same lateral pruned. 



No greater mistake can be nrade than that practised by some growers 

 of letting their t:ees go year after year unpruned, and this practice in the 

 long run proves disastrous, for there are no main leaders, these having 

 been lost amongst a lot of weak willowy top growth. The laterals can 

 be left unpruned until they spur but they should then be shortened back not 

 only to strengthen those spurs nearer the base, but also to prevent the tree from 

 overbearing and producing undersized fruit. The length the lateral is to be left 

 is dependent upon the vigorous state of the tree, the variety and the number of 



