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PRUNING 



be removed. Three limbs are sufficient to make an excellent 

 tree, if nothing happens to one of them. If, however, one 

 of these limbs is broken out during cultivation by careless 

 labor, as often happens in some of the large orchards, the 

 size of the tree becomes seriously decreased for a year or two 

 until new branches can fill in the space. In many trees at 

 least four, or possibly five, scaffold limbs are desirable. 



{Md. Exp. Sta.) 



Fig. 87. (a) Two-year-old peach tree after being pruned lightly. Main 

 limbs were headed to outward-growing branches, but laterals were not 

 clipped back. Shoots in center of tree were not removed. This tree will 

 reach large size quickly and bear early and large crops, (b) Two-year-old 

 peach tree in same orchard as (a). This tree was pruned heavily. Such 

 pruning dwarfs the tree and delays bearing. 



These scaffold limbs should usually be headed back, the 

 amount depending upon the growth that they have made. 

 If the limbs selected are not more than 2 feet in length, it 

 will not be desirable to head them at all. If the scaffold limbs 

 are 3 feet in length, it will probably pay to head back 6 or 8 

 inches to the first group of laterals, which usually occur on 

 such limbs. This will cause the formation of the secondary 

 scaffold branches far enough out from the trunk to secure 



