Abstract
We examined the effect of bourse shoot length on the quality of 6 cultivars of apples. Fruit with a long bourse shoot was larger than with a short shoot in ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Mutsu’, but there was no practical effect of the bourse shoot length on fruit quality in other cultivars. The effect of bourse shoot pruning during summer on fruit quality was also examined in ‘Fuji’ apple trees. Pruning in June had no effect on fruit quality, independent of the extent, but the number of fruit branches about 10–15 cm length were increased by half cutting the bourse shoot. Moreover, the rate of flower bud formation of the apical bourse shoot was not decreased by the treatment; therefore, strong bourse shoots developing on vigorous trees should be pruned.
