WHY AND HOW TO PRUNE 
Proper pruning is most essential to insure vigor- 
ous growth, correct shape, long life and big crops 
of fruits and flowers. Proper pruning of both top 
and roots determines success or failure. Many 
people do not prune enough. ; 
Pruning the roots when planting is just as neces- 
Sary as pruning the tops. The plant is nourished by 
little feeder roots which startfrom the ends of the 
old roots. These little feeder roots will not develop 
properly unless the roots are pruned as pictured. 

TOO SLOPING TOO NEAR TOO FAR CORRECT 
This picture shows how to make a correct diagon- 
al cut and how close to the bud you should prune. 
It is usually desirable to cut above a bud facing the 
outst of the plant to produce an open spreading 
plant. 
HOW TO PRUNE 
It is agreed by authorities and leading orchar- 
dists that pruning of young fruit trees at planting 
time is essential for success. Naturally there is a 
difference of opinion in procedure, but we recom- 
mend the “modified central leader” system as 
described. The illustrations show the same trees 
before and after trimming. Fall planted trees 
should not be trimmed until early the following 
spring. 
Apples 
Select three to five side branches on different 
sides of the trunk and about 6 to 8 inches apart. 
Select one of the top upright branches and cut it 
back 1/8 to 1/2 its length, depending upon the 
general proportion of the tree. The other branches 
selected should be trimmed back proportionally. All 
the other branches can be cut off entirely. 
4 
