PRUNING THE DIFFERENT TREE FRUITS 249 



a large tree quickly without making it too '^leggy^' or '^wil- 

 lowy/^ (In regions where tip injury from the Oriental peach 

 moth is severe during the middle of the growing season, no 

 heading back will be necessary.) 



(c) After the Second Yearns Growth Select Three or Four 

 Strong Laterals from Each of the Main Limbs Left the Year 

 Before to Continue the Fraw^ework of the Tree, The remain- 

 ing shoots should be thinned out moderately, and those left 

 should be headed back more severely than these framework 

 branches. This unequal cutting, owing to the resultant de- 

 creased leaf area, will dwarf such branches in comparison to 

 those left to form the main framework. It is neither neces- 

 sary nor wise to clip back all the small laterals on these main 

 branches, but they should be moderately thinned out (Fig. 87) . 



{d) Continue Building the Framework Following the Third 

 Yearns Growth. About three branches should again be se- 

 lected on each of the main branches left the year before to 

 continue the framework of the tree. These should be headed 

 back lightly to outward-growing branches and thinned out 

 moderately. The shoots in the center of the tree should not 

 be removed at this age, because a large percentage of the first 

 crop is borne on these shoots. 



This method of light pruning, together with early and 

 thorough cultivation, and the addition of larger amounts of 

 available nitrogen fertilizers where needed, should produce a 

 tree capable of bearing a good commercial crop during the 

 fourth year. 



{e) A Promising Method of Training and Pruning Finding 

 Favor in Some Sections Is Illustrated in Fig, 88. This has 

 given a tree of good size, with branches better spaced than 

 in trees headed according to the usual practice. 



(/) Bearing Trees Respond Better to a Somewhat Heavier 

 Type of Pruning Than That Practiced with Young Trees, 

 Even with these older trees pruning may easily be too severe 

 for the largest and best fruit production. Experiments and 

 observations show that it is not a wise practice to shear off 



