THE PHYSIOLOGY OF PRUNING. 



333 



and consequently produce only wood buds. The leaves at the extreme 

 end of the shoot are, however, in an excellent position and, moreover, are 

 in a rosette, which results in many leaves supplying all their food to one 

 bud, and the result is frequently a terminal fruit bud. 



In varieties of great vigour and with a large leaf-surface the activity 

 of one season is often sufficient to produce a fruit bud when it is very 

 favourably placed. The formation of fruit buds and spurs in varieties 

 of less vigour and of buds less well situated as to light and air is a 

 matter of two seasons. Let us assume that the shoot above referred to 

 is unpruned, and follow the development of the different buds the 

 following season. The dormant buds at the base of the shoot will remain 

 unaltered. The fruit buds will produce their blossoms and a supply of 

 leaves which will feed the ensuing fruit. The wood buds above these, 

 however, may take one of two courses. If the supply of sap be plentiful 

 they will develop into moderate shoots. If, on the other hand, the supply 

 be inadequate, each bud will produce a rosette of five leaves which will 

 nourish a fruit bud in their midst exactly as did the terminal bud of last 

 season, and this bud will of course produce fruit the next season. 



If pruning is done in the winter, the results of cutting to the different 

 buds will naturally vary greatly. When the branch is cut down to the 

 dormant buds at the base the result is that the roots being capable of 

 supplying the whole branch with sap will send to one or two buds the 

 amount intended for the whole branch. These buds, thus stimulated, 

 will commence a very strong growth, and this is of course the reason that 

 hard pruning encourages strong growth. 



If the branch is cut down to a fruit bud the result will be that these 

 will develop into spurs, a development which we will briefly consider. A 

 spur is a dwarf branch. If we imagine that the spaces between the leaves 

 on a normal shoot were elastic and that it were possible to extend or 

 close the shoot like a telescope, we shall see how this applies. When 

 extended on the branch, the leaves are, let us say, one inch apart. When 

 we push in the branch the leaves will naturally be quite close together 

 and have an appearance exactly similar to that of a spur, the terminal 

 fruit bud with its rosette of leaves. The spur is then an unextended 

 branch, and the rugged appearance of its bark is merely due to the leaf 

 scars being quite close together. Each of these leaves will produce in 

 their axils a small bud which will, according to circumstances, remain 

 dormant, or in time develop into another spur exactly as on the extended 

 branch considered above. 



We may now briefly refer to the case of the branch should the tree be 

 moved. This means in effect that the roots will be damaged, that new 

 roots will have to be made from the foodstuffs stored in the stem and 

 coarse roots. But this is a slow process, and until the old root system is 

 entirely replaced it means that the branches will have to go short of their 

 usual supply of sap. The effect upon them will be marked. No strong 

 growth will be made, and even if cut back to the dormant bud a weak shoot 

 only will result. If the branch is unpruned the shoots will put forth 

 their flowers, but lacking sufficient sap, fruit will probably not set, and 

 if it does there will be a lack of nourishment and consequently small, 

 undersized fruit. The leaves will be small for the same reason, and the 



