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. Cutting Back Almonds. I have some nice thrifty two-year-old almond trees which I did not "top" this spring. The limbs are from about four to seven or eight feet long. Would it not be best to "top" them yet? Cut them back to a shoot of this year's growth, removing about a third of last year's growth, perhaps. This will give you lower and better branching. Almond Planting. I am contemplating the planting of about five to eight acres of almonds: what variety is best to plant?