The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1919-02-06
Three Fundamentals; Learn Them

After having chosen the height of
head fer the tree, there are three i'm
pOrtant fundamentals to keep IN mind.
Professor Lewis, of the Oregon Agri-
cultural College, sums them up in this
way Lesson !, Choose and space the
scatIold branches Lesson 2. Keep main
branches or sections of the tree prop
erly dominant Lesson 3, Avoid the
sharp-angled, equally balanced crotch
es. Let Us 90 back to Lesson |. More
mistakes have been made right there
than al other the writer knows Of
DO not start with too many main
branches. 70 do SO is as logical as to
start the tree with two trunks. BY
choosing too many no opportunity Is
afforded the branch to form laterals
ana consequently it all goes to termi-
nal growth. The result iB a large
number Of weak branches later max
ing vain attempt to reach out into
the sunlight. Such branches are hard
to prop and easily broken. Contrast
such tree if sou will with another in
which there are four or five main
branches, all of which have retained
their identity from the trunk to the
new growth and yet have large mum
ber of laterals. Four or fVe main
branches are enough. Don't choose
any more. If possible choose those
which are distributed over distance
of foot or more on the trunk and
issue in whorl. The farther apart
the stronger and tetter they will be.
In order to accomplish this, it is nee
essary to go over the tree several
times during the first growing season
and suppress all shoots other than
I those chosen to form the main frame
/ work. Otherwise, shoots often issue
at one point.
! Now consider Lesson 2. Do not let
one branch grow at the expense of
another Those who start tree with
the idea of having at least five main
! branches often find at the end of four
or five years they have really only
three or four. This has been caused
by the fact that one branch has been
encouraged by light pruning while the
other has been discouraged by heavy
pruning. This may seem inconsistent
with the idea commonly held that
heavy winter pruning induces heavy
wood growth. However this is a
point which holds true with reference
to the tree as a whole rather than the
relation of one branch to another. If
YOU wish to encourage growth OF a
shoot on young, non bearing tree,
prune it lightly and vice versa if you
wish to discourage such growth, prune
it hard. This is important. In large
of orobnrlo ~, ho ,toIla,y &c
principle has apparently been lost
sight of entirely. The common mis-
take has been to prune two shoots
issuing at common point exactly
alike.
This brings US to points brought out
in Lesson 3. Two branches or shoots
of approximately equal size and cut ir
the manner Indicated Il. e. cut equally)
will have about the same amount oi
leaf surface which directly regulates
the amount, direction, and character
of resultant growth. The result is
that a sharp-angled. equally balanced
crotch is formed. Such crotches are
easily broken when a heavy crop OF
fruit is borne. If such pruning is kept
up for series of years the result is
that all branches show its undesirable
relation to each other. The point We
wish to emphasize therefore is. d.
not prune main branches so that one
may gain a distinct advantage owe
another main branch unless there i.
special reason for doing so. On thu
other hand, subordinate laterals to tn,
main branches. Carrying the poin
one step fur ther, subordinate the mex
series of laterals to the laterals al
ready formed and so on. If this i
/ carefully done for number of year
| beginning when the tree is young
| splendid structure will be built.
/ How thick should we allow growtl
! to become? We have suggested tha
| not over four ~ five shoots be chose
to form the main branches. The fol
Il lowing year each main branch may b.
Il allowed to support possibly two o
\ three laterals. The next year tn
same idea can be still further carrie
i out, etc. This, of course, is not to b
/ followed as a rule of thumb, but /
Il Judgment is used fewer mistakes vii
II be made.
Il AS a general rule, heavy winte
|! pruning on young trees is done. Thi
is necessary especially where trees ar
vigorous as indicated by many lon
and vigorous shoots and all the prun
! ing is done in winter. This takes tn
form of thinning out shoots to the eS
tent already indicated and headin
back moderately hGd or to that poin
where another series of branches
! expected On the other hard, wher
| winter pruning is combined with sun
J mer pruning along about the middle G