Thinning Bearing Trees. 127 
sible knowledge of the bearing habit of the fruit or variety 
thereof. 
Cutting back or “shortening in” should be done in a way 
which will reduce the burst of new shoots near the cut. This is 
measurably secured by always cutting the branch at a strong 
lateral, because the sap flow into this lateral prevents undue pres- 
sure and forcing of latent buds in the vicinity of the cut. For 
this reason the cutting back of all branches to a certain definite 
height is wrong. Trees shorn across at a certain line become 
thick as a brush with top shoots which require extensive thin- 
ning, or the bearing wood will soon be all at that level through 
failure of the densely-shaded bearing wood below. Cut to the 
nearest lateral below the line you wish to approximate, and 
shorten that lateral if desirable, and the result will be fewer and 
stronger shoots than from a stub-cut. ; 
In the treatment of bearing trees the main effort should 
generally be toward thinning or reducing the number of bear- 
ing shoots. This is related to the important work of thinning 
the fruit to reduce the burden of the tree, and will be mentioned 
again in that connection. The work has, however, a bearing be- 
yond the size of individual fruit specimens. It involves the whole 
future of the tree as a profitable affair. An unthinned tree be- 
comes a thicket of small, weak and dying laterals and spurs. 
An attempt to cure this afterwards by sawing out many large 
branches is only partially successful, though perhaps the best 
thing that can be done after such condition has been allowed to 
exist. The only way to keep the interior of the tree full enough 
of strong, bearing wood is to resolutely and regularly thin out 
surplus shoots as the tree advances in age and size. This work 
is as important with trees which are not regularly cut hack, as 
with those which are thus treated. It is one of the most vital as 
well as the most generally neglected item in orchard practise. 
In thinning out lateral bearing shoots seldom leave more 
than one at any point; select the strongest; remove the rest close 
to the branch. When a new shoot springs out at the base of an 
older one remove the older one; when a new shoot breaks out 
on the side of an older one cut the older one back to that point. 
In thinning always reject the older, weaker laterals or spurs. 
This does not apply to the outbreak of strong suckers or water 
sprouts below the main branches; they should usually be cleanly 
cut away unless a new main branch is desirable. 
Pruning of bearing trees should always have regard to the 
removal of branches which have become decrepit through sun- 
burn, blight or disease of any kind, frost injury, or any form of 
die-back from whatever cause. Such wood is not only of les- 
sened value, but there is also danger of extension of the trouble. 
