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Pruning a Form of Training 
Young apple trees require very little 
attention, with regard to pruning, until 
they reach the bearing age. The treat- 
ment should be one of training rather 
than of correction. That is, the trees 
should be gone over every year and en- 
couraged to grow in the desired way. 
Several yearly trimmings will require no 
more time than a single pruning after a 
lapse of three or four years. — Irregular 
pruning tends to throw the young tree out 
of balance, for the removal of so much 
wood in one year is always followed by 
a rank, succulent growth the following 
Figs. 3 and 4. A’‘Ten-year-old Apple Tree that 
has not been pruned since it was planted, and 
the same tree after pruning. Observe the 
open center. 
season. Unless such yearly treatment can 
be given, it is probably better to delay 
pruning entirely till the trees reach the 
bearing age, when the maturing of a crop 
of fruit will offset to some extent the in- 
vigorating effect of severe pruning. Fig. 
3 and Fig. 4 show a tree, before and after 
pruning, that has been treated in this way. 
If this method is employed, and if there 
is much wood to be removed, it would 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
seem advisable to remove some of the 
wood during the summer and the remain- 
der in the following winter or spring. 
Summer pruning is a devitalizing process 
and has the opposite effect upon the tree 
to that of winter pruning. It also tends 
to induce fruitfulness. 
The regular annual treatment may be 
done any time during the dormant season, 
and the operation consists in removing 
unnecessary growth and moderately head- 
ing-in the stronger growing branches. 
Much may be done in the way of direct- 
ing the growth of the branches by cutting 
back to a bud the points in the right di- 
rection. If a spreading habit is desired, 
the cut should be made about an inch 
above one of the lower or outer buds. 
With trees that are naturally spreading 
in habit, on the other hand, a more up- 
right growth may be induced by cutting 
back to a bud on the upper or inner side 
of a branch. Some growers rub off the 
buds that they do not want to develop. 
This is a doubtful practice and entirely 
unnecessary. The important point in the 
whole matter is the development of a 
strong, well-balanced structure with a 
large bearing surface. In pruning and 
shaping the young tree the grower should 
keep in mind the matter of convenience. 
He should endeavor to keep the tree as 
low as possible to facilitate the operation 
of spraying and harvesting. There is a 
tendency among the best growers to de- 
velop a tree with an open space in the 
center of the head. This is a great ad- 
vantage in the way of admitting more air 
and sunlight, but it is possible to carry 
the matter to such an extent that the 
branches of the tree may be injured by 
exposing them to the direct rays of the 
sun. 
C. D. JaRVIs, 
Storrs, Conn. 
Pruning as Adapted to Iowa 
In too many of our Iowa orchards the 
trees are permitted to grow any shape 
or density restricted only by the laws of 
nature. As a rule there are too many 
limbs, the foilage is too dense, and the 
apples toward the center of the tree do 
not color properly. As the tree gets lare- 
