58 



PRINCin.ES AND TRACTICE OF PRUNING 



bear each alternate year and 

 continue fur many years to 

 make their gnarly growth. Such 

 being the case, great care must 

 usually be exercised to prevent 

 injury to the fruit spurs; for if 

 they are destroyed they cannot 

 be replaced. The only way 

 new ones can be secured is to 

 develop water sprouts, upon 

 which, after much loss of time, 

 new spurs will form. 



Apple and pear cluster buds, 

 though usually terminal as 

 shown in the outline (56), are 

 not alwa}'S so. Though fruit 

 spurs are usually two seasons 

 old befiire mature fruits can be 

 gathered from them, this rule 

 has its exceptions. Indeed, 

 some varieties produce con- 

 siderable fruit on the tips of 

 "last season's" twigs or on 

 spurs of the same age (Fig. 

 36). Certain varieties of apples 

 produce blossom buds in the 

 axils of leaves of "last season" 

 and mature their fruits "this 

 season." Such cases as these 

 appear to be very ex- 

 ceptional in the eastern United 

 States, but comparatively^ com- 

 mon in the AVest, especially in 

 sections where irrigation is 

 practiced. The practical value 

 of this fact is that thuse varieties which produce blos- 

 som buds on growths only one season old tend to 



FIG. 37— PEACH SPUR 

 This fwig grew on the interior 

 of the tree. Notice 1, the large 

 nuinber of blossotiis; 2, the small 

 number of branch buds; and 3, 

 that in several cases (clearly seen 

 at a) branch buds have been re- 

 placed by flowers. 



