SECOND YEAR’S PRUNING 53 
but in British Columbia, where the trees naturally pro- 
duce such heavy crops that we have to thin severely, 
and even then after thinning often require to support the 
limbs of the trees with numerous props, it would appear 
to be the more economical plan to keep your fruit spurs 
systematically short, and about 2 inches is a convenient 
length. At this time you will begin to notice a certain 
number of short twigs sticking out stiffly from nearly 
all the branches. These are fruit spurs, and must not be 
cut off. At this time, also, you will find that at the end 
of the main branches in many cases three smaller branches 
have been developed during the past season. If all three 
look as though they would grow naturally towards the 
outside of the tree, they may all be left. Only, in that 
case, shorten back the two at the side to about 10 or 
12 inches each, and leave the middle one, called the 
leader, 15 inches or so in length. It is important that 
the leader should in all cases be left an inch or two longer 
than its own side branches, because the sap flows to the 
outermost tips, and they are the ones which must grow 
fastest, or rather grow longest, if the tree is to preserve 
its proper shape. 
Should you at a later date discover that you have left 
too much wood—that is to say, too many limbs—in your 
tree, and find you need to cut some of them out, then cut 
them off close up against the branch from which they 
spring, and avoid leaving a short stub sticking out like 
a knob. If the branch you thus cut off exceeds an inch 
in diameter, it is best to paint it with thick white paint, 
so as to protect the wound from the ill-effects of the 
weather and from possible injury by insects. 
