cutting back is a matter of judgment and depends upon how thick the growth is, what its position and relation to other shoots, etc.  The chief point in cutting back is to know where you wish the next laterals to come on the shortened shoot, and if you do not wish more laterals at once; do not cut back at all.  Treatment, of laterals which come of themselves is another matter.  Do not clip the ends of shoots unless laterals are desired.  If you keep clipping the ends of apple twigs, you will get no fruit from some varieties.

Grafting Almond on Peach.

I had good success with the peach trees which I grafted to almond last spring, getting about 95 per cent of a stand, and many of the grafts now are one and one-half inches diameter.  In each of the trees I left about a quarter of the branches, to keep up the growing process of the tree.  The universal practice around here in grafting is to cut the whole top off the tree at the time of grafting, but the increased growth and vigor of the grafts I have has proved to me and other growers around, that much better results are obtained by leaving part of the top on the tree at the time of grafting.

You did exceedingly well with your grafting.  It seems a more rational way to proceed than by a total amputation, and yet ample success is often attained by grafting for a whole new top at once.

Pruning Almonds.

Should the main branches be shortened in a three-year-old almond tree?  Of course, I intend to thin out the branches.  Some growers here advise me to shorten the main branches; others say do not shorten them, as it tends to give the trees a brushy top.

Although some growers are contending for regular shortening — in of the almond as is practiced on the peach, it is not usual to cut back almond trees after they have reached three years of age and have assumed good form.  Of course, if cutting back is done, the shoots coming from near the amputation must be thinned out to prevent the brushiness your adviser properly objected to.

Budding and Grafting Almonds.

Is it better to bud or graft bitter almond seedlings of one year’s growth, and, as they must be transplanted, would it be proper to do the work this season or defer it for another year’s growth?

Your almond seedlings should have been budded in July or August after starting from the nut, which would have fitted them for planting in orchard the following winter as dormant buds, as they cannot stay where they are another season.  Now you can transplant to nursery rows in another place:  cut back and graft as the buds are swelling, allowing a good single shoot to grow from below on those which do not start the grafts into which you can bud in June, and cut back the stock to force growth as soon as the buds have taken.  In this way you will get the whole stock into trees for planting out next winter.  Some will be large and some small, but all will come through if planted in good soil and cared for properly.  Of course, you can plant out the seedlings and graft and bud in the orchard, but it will be a lot of trouble and you will get very irregular results.