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able than those headed high. A head 
which is two and one-half to three feet 
from the ground is at present considered 
more desirable than one which is six feet 
or more from the ground. The latter 
height was formerly frequently used. In 
forming the head care should be taken 
to have the framework branches disposed 
at different heights along the body of the 
tree—say from three to six inches apart, 
and distributed as evenly as possible 
around the body as a central axis; that 
is, when viewed from above the picture 
presented would be that of a wheel, the 
hub being the central axis of the tree and 
the framework branches representing the 
spokes. 
Main Branches 
For an apple tree three branches are 
considered the ideal number. More may 
be left upon some varieties, particularly 
those which are strong growers and upon 
trees which have a well-developed root 
system at planting time. If, however, the 
roots have been badly mutilated in re- 
moving the tree from the nursery, it will 
be safer to reduce the number to three 
rather than to maintain a larger number. 
These three main framework branches 
upon the ordinary first-class nursery tree 
should not be more than 10 or 12 inches 
in length. At the close of the first sea- 
son’s growth after planting, each of these 
three framework branches should be con- 
sidered as though it were a separate nur- 
sery tree, and, if possible, three subdivi- 
sions of this should be maintained for the 
wood supply of the second year, the three 
branches retained being cut back to about 
the same length as those originally held 
by the tree as planted in the first place. 
This operation should be repeated each 
succeeding year. By so doing a symmet- 
rical development can be maintained, and 
by cutting to an outside or an inside bud 
the habit of the tree can be modified so 
as to make it upright or spreading in char- 
acter. Some trees are normally upright 
in their habit of growth, while others are 
spreading. This must be borne in mind 
and the character of the variety under 
treatment must be taken into considera- 
tion in cutting the branches, so that they 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
will be upright or spreading according to 
the desire of the planter. 
Effect of Cutting Back 
This frequent cutting back of the 
branches of the tree while it is young pre. 
vents the long, bare branches which are 
so characteristic of old orchard trees, {t 
also prevents the tree from growing too 
tall—a condition which makes it diffeult 
to gather the fruit or spray the tree With 
the low-headed trees less propping is nec- 
essary than with trees having long frame- 
work branches. The load of fruit is car. 
ried nearer the trunk, and the main struc- 
tural branches being larger in proportion 
to their length are therefore better able 
to carry any load of fruit which the tree 
may develop. 
Annual and Biennial Crops 
Judicious pruning, as has been pointed 
out, not only facilitates the work of cul- 
tivation and spraying, but at the same 
time determines to a very considerable 
extent the fruiting habit of the tree; that 
is, the quantity of bearing wood which a 
tree carries can be modified by pruning so 
that it will be practically impossible for 
the tree to retain more fruits in any given 
Season than the root is capable of sup- 
plying with a proper amount of nourish- 
ment. With such a balance between the 
fruit bearing wood of the tree and its 
root system maintained, biennial crops 
will be less likely and annual crops will 
be more common. Orchardists in general 
are coming to believe that the reason 
for the biennial crop in many orchards is 
due to the fact that during the crop year 
the trees are allowed to overbear, and 
that their vitality is therefore so much 
reduced that it is impossible for them to 
carry a satisfactory crop the succeeding 
year. The thinning of the fruit, with the 
result that a crop is borne each year, has 
convinced practical growers that over- 
bearing is the cause of the biennial fruit 
production. 
Pruning for Fruit 
With fruit trees pruning is important 
because it can be used for the purpose of 
checking the growth as well as for the pur- 
pose of thinning the fruit. It is an old 
and well established maxim among fruit 
