268 



PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING 



Comparing Fig, 237 with Fig. 328, a tree that was not summer 

 liruned, it is seen that the result of summer pruning is to bring the 

 fruit of the next season nearer to the main Umbs, and also that in 

 the unpruned tree the lower part of the crown has very many less 

 blossoms than the tree pruned by the middle of June. Figure 226 

 is a detailed view of the lower part of one of the main limbs of the 

 tree shown in Fig. 237. In the lower left-hand corner the trunk of 

 the tree and its separation into three main limbs is shown. It will 

 be observed that this limb (and the others equally) is clothed with 

 blossom-covered shoots from its base outward. Fruit set on 



FIG. 230— GREENSBORO, FIVE YEARS OLD, PRUNED IN JULY 



every one of these shoots, so fully a fourth of the entire crop of 

 the tree is produced within 4 feet of the ground. All the fruit on 

 the tree can be picked from the ground by a man of average height. 



Early summer pruning permits the formation of fruit buds dur- 

 ing the remainder of the growing season for the next year's crop. 

 But late pruning is harmful to the succeeding crop. The tree shown 

 in Fig. 229 is a Greensboro tree pruned in August. Very few fruit 

 buds formed on the new growth, which was very short. A Greens- 

 boro tree, pruned in July (Fig. 230) set a good stand of fruit buds 

 in the upper part of the crown, but the lower part is relatively bare. 

 Red Bird trees pruned in early June were quite as full of bloom in 

 the lower branches as was the Greensboro tree shown in Fig. 227. 



The later varieties respond in practically the same manner tn 

 early and late summer pruning. Figure 231 is a Belle (of Georgia) 



