126 Treatment of Alature Trees. 
PRUNING BEARING TREES. 
Three winter prunings of deciduous trees usually establish 
their permanent form, and subsequent pruning 1s chiefly di- 
rected toward the retention of that form; for strength of branch 
and stem; for renewal of bearing wood; for regulation of amount 
of bearing wood; for relative light and shade, and for conve- 
nience in cultivation and other orchard work. Naturally, these 
ends are sought according to the needs and habits of different 
fruits, and the methods of attaining them will be discussed in 
the chapters treating of these fruits. There are, however, cer- 
tain general considerations which are proper in this connection: 
Pruning during the dormancy of the tree induces greater 
growth of wood during the following summer; pruning during 
the active period reduces wood growth and promotes fruit-bear- 
ing. The greater the amount of wood removed during the dor- 
mant period will make the summer growth of wood proportion- 
ately stronger. Whether the total weight of wood growth woula 
be greater may be questioned, but the effective wood growth 
is certainly greater. Whether the fect of new wood grown on 
a peach tree cut back to stumps in the winter would be greater 
in weight than all the mches of growth which would be scattered 
all over the surface of the tree if not cut back, may be doubted, 
but the new growth secured by cutting back will be of immense 
vigor and the following year will bear large fruit, while the new 
growth on the tree not cut back will be thin and short and the 
fruit indifferent. The weaker the tree or the branch or twig of 
the tree, the greater the part of it to be removed when dormant 
to get the stronger new growth. 
Pruning during the active period of the tree, or allowing it 
to go uncut during the dormant period, have the same effect, 
viz., the promotion of fruiting. Some trees, like apricots and 
peaches, which bear upon new laterals, will bear fruit even though 
heavily winter-cut, if these small laterals are retained on the 
lower parts of the main branches. Some other trees, like the 
prune, which bears on spurs, will delay the formation of spurs 
if heavily winter-cut. These two facts suggest two diverse pol- 
icies in pruning bearing trees: A peach tree unpruned will reduce 
its crop for lack or weakness of new laterals; a prune tree too 
severely winter-pruned will reduce its crop for lack of old spurs. 
Again, some fruits, or varieties of fruits, bear chiefly upon the 
tips, others chiefly upon the lateral spurs; shortening one reduces 
the crop largely; shortening the other may increase the mar- 
ketable crop by decreasing the aggregate number. These and 
other similar facts suggest that pruning bearing trees, to be 
intelligently pursued, must be accompanied with the fullest pos- 
