WINTER PRUNING EXPERIMENTS WITH APPLE TREES. l6l 
shape of the tree. It is usually advisable to cut away most of these 
terminals, or at any rate to leave only those on shoots not required 
for leaders. 
It is tolerably certain that the tipped and spurred trees actually 
produced in all cases a much larger proportion of " axillary " fruit 
buds than the unpruned trees ; this would have appeared if the 
pruning could have been delayed until all the blossom buds were 
recognizable. Most varieties produce " axillary " fruit buds mainly 
on shoots longer than one foot or 18 inches ; and as the number of 
such shoots is far greater on the tipped and spurred trees the pro- 
portion of the various classes would be affected. ' Lane's ' is here 
to some extent an exception ; it often produces* a terminal and 
three or four axillary fruit buds on shoots only 3 or 4 inches long. 
The question arises, to what extent is the natural habit of a 
variety, whether in growth or fruiting, altered by local conditions of 
soil or climate ? Our evidence on this point is still rather limited ; 
but as far as it goes it tends to a fairly definite conclusion — that if 
there is any change at all, it is due more to a " telescoping," i.e. shorten- 
ing or lengthening, of the parts, than to any radical change in natural 
habit. Thus, while ' Bismarck ' seems everywhere to preserve its 
capacity to make, in a favourable season, a very large number of 
" axillary " fruit buds, there may be soils where its growth is so 
restricted that they are seldom conspicuous, even on young trees. 
Some varieties, again, may be more or less prone than they are 
here to make much bare wood by failing to furnish their branches with 
spurs ; this influence may be partly climatic or mainly due to soil 
conditions ; but, whatever the cause, it seems probable that all varieties 
tend more or less in the same direction. 
It is suggested, therefore, that although different local conditions 
do have a very great effect on a particular variety, if one studies the 
habit of a variety and the best way of pruning it in one set of con- 
ditions, one can apply one's knowledge to the pruning of the same 
variety in a totally different set of conditions, by making allowances 
for obvious differences in rate of growth and other details. 
In conclusion, it is desired to emphasize once more the importance 
of these differences in the habit of different varieties, and the extreme 
desirability of a close study by growers of each variety which they 
grow on any large scale, in order to avoid the heavy losses resulting 
from the failure to make use of natural habit in pruning. 
Summary. 
Winter pruning experiments have shown, up to the seventh and 
eighth year from planting, that — 
1. " Tipping " always delays or reduces blossoming, at least until 
the biennial bearing habit reduces the blossom of the untipped trees. 
2. In practically every case the tipped trees set a larger proportion 
of their blossom than the unpruned trees. 
