APPLES 299 
The low headed tree has many advan- 
tages over the high headed tree As a 
rule no apple tiee should be permitted to 
stait its head farthe1 than 18 inches f10m 
the ground, nor closer than six inches 
trom the ground A tree with more than 
i$ ches of stem places its fruiting plane 
almost entirely out of reach otf the aver- 
age man for thinning, harvesting, etc., 
while the tree with less than six inches 
ot stem is very apt to have tiunk rot or 
to readily split when heavily loaded with 
fruit. If the West desires to continue to 
lead in the production of fancy and first- 
class fruit her orchardists must keep the 
fruiting planes of their trees within easy 
reach of the ground for thinning, spray- 
ing, and harvesting. Our experiments 
and observations teach that the following 
methods give the best results for the 
training of young apple trees: 
First Year 
Prune the newly planted one-year-old 
tree in the spring just before growth be- 
gins to a straight whip unless it means 
the removal of a large number of buds 
from that part of the stem between 12 
and 24 inches from the ground; in the 
latter case, cut the laterals back to short 
stubs from one to three buds in length. 
The smooth pruning gave the best results 
where it was possible to practice it. After 
pruning to a whip, cut the top off just 
above a bud from 18 to 24 inches from 
the ground Varieties like the Jonathan 
may be cut at 18 inches or less while 
varieties like the Rome Beauty and Wag- 
ener should be headed a little higher. It 
is frequently difficult to secure sufficient 
well placed branches upon a large one- 
year-old transplanted Wagener if it be cut 
off closer than 24 inches from the ground 
If the lower buds for the first 12 inches 
from the ground start to grow they should 
be rubbed off early in July unless the 
Stems of the trees are slender and need 
to be thickened when the buds should be 
permitted to grow until August or even 
the following spring, unless they form 
very strong growths. 
Second Year 
Select from five to seven of the best 
placed limbs to become the framework of 
the tree, seculing as many) as possible that 
point in all directions and that are as far 
apart on the main stem as possible. Cut 
oi the others close to the main stem and 
prune the selected ones back to from one- 
third to one half of thei: original length, 
leaving the most central one as a leader 
which should be cut from four to six 
inches longer than the others The exact 
length the frame work limbs should be 
lett must be governed entirely by the 
years growth Bight inches should be 
considered the minimum length and 18 
the maximum Jength. In the case of up- 
right growing varieties prune to outer 
buds while in the case of spreading sorts 
prune to inner buds and thereby correct 
the evil In windy exposures turn as 
many limbs as possible toward the wind; 
also prune the branches very severely on 
the windward side. 
Third Year 
select from two or three limbs per 
branch of the frame, remove the broken, 
diseased and superfluous branches, and 
cut the selected ones back to from one- 
half to two-thirds of their original length. 
Again the best length to leave the 
branches must be governed by the growth. 
Eighteen to 24 or even 386 inches are 
reasonable lengths. The leader should 
still be maintained and the top carefully 
balanced in order to avoid undesirable 
growth. It is sometimes necessary to re- 
move one or more of the framework 
branches to open the top. This is always 
allowable and frequently advantageous in 
the forming of the top. 
Fourth and Fifth Years 
Select from one to three limbs per 
branch that were left the preceding year, 
remove crossing, diseased and superfluous 
wood and cut back the selected limbs 
very little and unless the growth is very 
strong little or no topping is necessary. 
Thin the top and center as much as pos- 
sible without leaving it entirely open. In 
the case of long growths, cut back severe- 
ly to a branch if possible. In fact, all 
pruning from now on should be of a thin- 
ning and very light topping nature. In 
the fourth to fifth year, summer pruning 
should begin to be practiced in sections 
