The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1907-09-19
HEADS OF APPLE TREES.
Locality Has Much to Do with style
Of Growth.

Whether the heads OF apple trees
should be compact or sparsely formed
depends to some extent on the local
ity In which the trees are grown.
There are lands OF sunshine and
there are lands OF cloudy skies. In
the states where much cloudy weather.
exists during the growing season it Is
necessary for the trees to catch as
much sunshine as possible, for the
ripening of the fruit and especially for
its coloring. In some of the states 1t
Is advisable to prune severely and
thin out the branches to make IL pos
sible for the sun to get at the fruit.
That condition is true OF parts Of New
England and parts Of the Pacific
states toward the northwest. Even
In the eastern part of the United
States it pays to keep the heads OF
apple trees fairly well thinned out.
AS we go west toward the Rocky
mountains the conditions change in
orof the dense and compact heads.
The sun shines eternally during the
day time in several of the states west
OF the Missouri. The heat Injuries
the fruit where It pours upon 1t unot-
structed, and the sunlight is so abund-
ant that 1t colors up the fruit with
little or no trimming OF the limbs.
The question of high and low heads
is generally settled In favor Of low
heads, especially In the western
states where the wind blows with
great force. The low heads protect
| the fruit from being switched CT and
where the trees are close together the
wind that blows upon an orchard is
detected upward by the thick. low
heads, while IL the heads are high It
passes under the trees and through
them to great extent. This greatly
increases the danger of the trees be-
Ing broken by the wind.
There was time when the whole
sentiment was In favor of high headed
trees. says Farmers Review. The
farmers wanted enough room under
the trees so they could plow about
them and drive about them easily
with the farm team and with the farm
implements. For several generations
therefore, the farmers planted their
trees so they could use the ground for
gardening. Those that remember the
old New England orchards remember
the tall-trunked trees, some of them
so long that a good sized ladder was
required to reach the first limbs
There was no danger of the horses
hitting their heads when they plowet
about them.
But few of those orchards are seer
now. They passed away with the com
ing Of more intensive agriculture
Science pronounced them too expen
sive in the way of time required To-
harvesting their fruit. The High-ToI
Sweeting that bore apples at q lonl
distance from the ground no longe
J has to be climbed and shaken to ge
: the fruit. 1t Is no more, but in IL
place stands tree with head close d
the ground and with trunk SO shor
that there Is not room enough be
tween 1t and the ground to dc an,
climbing.
The modern mathematician has fie
5 ured out that the low-headed tre
costs far less to care for and gives q
) good general results, though its frui
!, may not be so highly colored. It
l easy to trim. for the trimmer ca
{ reach about all the limbs from tn
Y ground. 1t is easy to spray, and les
/, spraying material is thrown ava
e than In the case of the taller tree.
t costs little to gather its fruit. and tn
s fruit is less bruised when gathered.