APPLES 
Pruning 
if the orchard is composed of suitable 
varieties, and the trees are not to be top- 
grafted, the first operation will be that 
of pruning. In many orchards the trees 
are too closely planted. That they have 
not commenced to crowd is due more often 
to a lack of vigor than to proper spacing. 
The renovated orchard under favorable 
conditions will soon require more room. 
The Jarger growing varieties like Bald- 
win, Rhode Island Greening, Northern 
Spy, Roxbury Russet and many others 
will eventually require 40 feet between 
the trees. With the small growing sorts 
like Transparent, Oldenburg, Wealthy, 
McIntosh and others, 20 to 30 feet may 
be sufficient. 
Thinning the Orchard 
The first step, then, is to determine if 
the trees are properly spaced. It they 
are found to be too closely planted and 
if some of them must be removed, it is 
well to follow some regular order so as to 
retain the conformity of the orchard. 
Where trees are planted in squares, as 
is commonly the case, every alternate tree 
in the row may be removed. If the first 
tree of the first row is retained, the first 
tree of the second row should be removed. 
This is done by taking out every second 
row diagonally. This method, it will be 
seen, leaves the rows cornerwise of the 
orchard. If the squares between the trees 
were originally 25x25 feet, they would 
now be 35.3x35.3 feet. If originally they 
were 30x30 feet they would now be 42.4x 
42.4 feet. So that by removing half the 
trees it does not follow, as is commonly 
supposed, that the trees will be twice as 
far apart as before. 
In order that the diagonal rows to be 
removed may contain the largest possible 
number of vacancies and inferior trees, it 
is well to make a diagram of the orchard, 
locating on it all desirable trees by a par- 
ticular sign, all weak trees and trees of 
undesirable varieties by another sign, and 
all vacancies by another. The result 
would be something like Fig. 1. 
As to whether one should start by re- 
moving the first diagonal row, or the sec- 
ond, may readily be determined by re- 
+ Oesirabe Trees 
>> U Undesirable Trees — 
O Missing Tree 
Fig. 1. Diagram Showing Method of Thinning 
Orchards. The dotted lines show the rows 
that are retained 
ferring to the diagram. The even rows, as 
shown in the accompanying figure, in- 
clude 19 vacancies and 18 weak or un- 
desirable trees, while the odd rows in- 
clude only four vacancies and 11 unde- 
sirable trees. In this particular case, 
then, it would be advisable to remove the 
even, diagonal rows, which include 387 out 
of the total of 52 vacancies and undesir- 
able trees. The rows that remain include 
four vacancies, and the question may 
arise as to whether the trees adjacent to 
these vacancies should be removed. In 
some cases it may be advisable to leave 
such trees, but it must be remembered 
that each one so situated is likely to 
crowd one side of three other trees. An 
investigation by the Cornell Experiment 
Station shows that, within certain limits, 
the more trees per acre, the less the yield. 
Their results are based on the records of 
hundreds of orchards and cover a period 
of four years. A brief summary follows: * 
Bushels 
Per Acre 
Not over 30x30 feet . ou... cL. 186 
31x31 to 35x35 feet..... Loses nee 222 
86x36 to 40x40 feet 2 2 www... 229 
Shaping and Thinning the Trees 
Most trees are too high and may be 
greatly improved by cutting back the 
* Cornell Experiment Station Bulletin 226, p. 
301, 1905. 
