1908J 



Pruning Fruit Trees. 



707 



bare at the base. This is in itself a serious defect enough, 

 but inasmuch as the top branches will in their turn present 

 the same phenomenon of strong tip growth and weak basal 

 growth, it follows that the tree will be constantly becoming 

 more and more top heavy. The branches will be " whippy " 

 and crowded. 



A good fruit tree can only be built up by successive stages 

 of pruning. It cannot be left to nature. The first stage is 

 the pruning of the " maiden," and this should be looked upon as 

 absolutely indispensable. It should be done severely, as half 



fig. 2. — Second year's tree : — -(C), tree B, fig. 1 : (/), laterals pinched to one leaf 

 as made ; (g), points of shortening at winter pruning ; (k), stem from which all 

 growths but the three shown have been removed at an early stage of the year's 

 growth. 



measures will only be attended by failure. Each tree may be 

 shortened to six buds from the stock — that is to say, the 

 pruner may count upwards from the stock, and having come 

 to the sixth bud, boldly pass his knife through the shoot (Fig. 1). 

 It helps to carry the succeeding shoot up in a true line with 

 the main stem if the bud at which pruning is done is on the 

 front of the stem, but this is not of great importance except for 

 wall and trellis trees. The shoots may be thinned to three, 

 choosing those which are the best placed. 



The second stage is the cutting back of the shoots which 



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