The Pruning Response of One-year Apple Trees

The response to pruning, in the simple woody system exemplified by 1-year-old rooted apple shoots, could be summarized by the equation irrespective of the amount of growth or of whether all new shoots or only two were allowed to develop. In a group of smaller plants, the proportion of new stem increased slightly. The response could be largely attributed to a close relation between the total increment and the thickening of the old stem which was found to be Increase in weight of the plants was favoured by treatments promoting early bud-break and rapid development of leaf area. It was not simply related to pruning.