Show water sprouts usefull Useful for apple tree braces in pruning ting young apple trees you ohen tent notice weak crotches in the scaffold fraine framework wok of bf the tree that you wish might be braced did you ever think of usan using water sprouts for braces ninny fruit growers do and ind they can frequently develop very vice nice braces for weak crotches from water sprouts stayman delicious trees are particularly weak from froin the standpoint of crotches and cain can often be helped in this way take a water sprout from each limb forming the croath and bring these two sprouts together and twist them hem t around each other several times until they stay wrapped it may be necessary to tie the ends down with waxed twine which will hold but will not girdle the sprouts soon grow together into a solid branch that increases in size the growth of the brandies branches and so keeps of sufficient clent size to be an effective brace weak crotches cro iches are often most apparent in trees from eight eadi to fifteen years of tige age and fortunately on trees of this sage age there Is usually an opportunity to brace with water sprouts defore before cutting water sprouts off lt from scaffold brn branches nelies see if you cannot use isme for brace wood |