30 PRUNING OF DWARF APPLES. 



I here beg leave to differ from those who re- 

 commend heading down dwarf apple trees, when 

 they have wood sufficient to form the bottom of 

 the tree; I prefer letting it remain, for, as the 

 new wood will grow but little the first year, the 

 shoots will swell and get strong, and if it is a 

 good bearer will form bloom buds all up these 

 young shoots : this, perhaps, will alarm some to 

 allow the tree to bear so young, but it must be 

 remembered that the trees while young will pro- 

 duce the finest fruit : besides, it is necessary to 

 throw them into bearing early, to keep them 

 from growing too luxuriantly. It is useless 

 having a great fruitless tree covering a large 

 space of ground, while by proper management 

 you can get an equal quantity of fruit off a tree 

 half the size, and that fruit finer, and the tree 

 kept sufficiently strong and in perfect health, by 

 the mode of pruning I shall adopt. 



Now the tree having stood two years without 

 being headed down as before described, it will 

 throw out some young side-shoots towards the 

 top of the original shoots; these should be cut off 

 within two buds of the bottom, allowing the ori- 



