thomis, good work on that Apple orchard. But, in the photos the sun does appear on the other side from the N direction on the layout. One year tree growth seems fair not great. Fertilizer may double the growth. Cutting the tree down to 30". In the last photo your holding a tree that looks like a 48" whip that grew one season. It won't hurt the tree to cut it to 30". I'd leave it that high so not have to duck when mowing. You can spread the vertical tree branches now and in a month or two they will hold that angle. Clip the branch tips off to an outward facing bud.

And I got the technique from Bas Van Ende, but I've never used it on peaches or other stonefruit. I didn't trust the integrity of the wood enough but now I know I could. I do sometimes use spreaders, however. I don't generally use the first large branches for my scaffolds anyway, and remove them for branches of smaller diameter that are naturally more horizontal. This may reduce the size of my first crop but beyond that it's hard to slow down a healthy peach. Oversized branches tend to make weak unions and often break under cropload if left unsupported. My peach trees start life as central leaders and I don't convert them to open center until they've begun seriously cropping. The central leader also supplies a place for spreaders- the easiest way to make branches more horizontal. One other point about brown rot. It's very important to keep the fruit thinned in a way that they never touch. I guess you could even make sure that no leaves are touching the fruit so it dries quickly. Summer pruning will also help keep the fruit dryer if done with that strategy in mind.

Select just 3 or 4 of all the branches and leaders, and train them down so they spread out, and prune off all the others. If you like where the lower ones are already, just prune out all the tall spindly ones. Personally I'd rather get rid of those spindly ones and keep the ones that have the most leaves on them. Then 3 or 4 times per year, continue to prune out any new leaders or branches that shade the center of the tree. Search YouTube for Dave Wilson Nurseries and you'll find dozens of videos that show exactly how to do this. There's really no right or wrong way to prune. Or should I say, the right way to do it is the way YOU want it. If you want an open center, then prune to maintain an open center. Simple as that, really.

Sorry for the late reply....I just read your additional postings. First, before you do anything, go to YOU-TUBE and search for fig tree pruning/training/planting videos. You'll be surprised at the information that you can view. Second,...if/when you pinch out the terminal bud, at the top of the main-stem, you will encourage dormant buds to break below this point, which will then become the new branches. These branches will be trained to to grow upwards, and will increase the total height of the "tree". These new branches will also eventually be pinched back to encourage more buds to break. You'll have a nice rack of new fruiting branches in no time at all. This will be a work-in-progress, and you may not get too many figs while this training is being done to establish the basic framework of your future tree. But figs grow on new wood, so you may get a few this year....maybe. You say you are located in Missouri. Your tree should still be dormant. If it is dormant, it will not be too late to start to prune, but I would wait until the tree starts to grow for this season, and see if buds start to break along the main-stem, and to make sure your terminal bud is still alive and growing. I'd let the plant take off for at least a month, and put on some growth before pinching/pruning. Fertilize, and let the tree grow so you can see what and where to prune. You don't mention how big a pot the "tree" is growing in, but now, while the tree is still dormant, is the time to do a re-pot, using the correct, quick-draining mix. Growing figs in containers is vastly different than growing trees that are planted into the ground. Search this forum for growing figs in containers. I hope this gives you some idea about what to do when training a Fig tree. There's also plenty of prior postings on this forum about training fig trees. Once you establish the basic structure of your tree, keeping it productive and in control is very easy. Good luck. Frank