EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



227 



be shaded from the hot sun and less likely to be injured by the freezing and 

 thawing of winter. Short trunks will bring the branches nearer the ground 

 and will facilitate the pruning, thinning, and gathering of the fruit. The 

 low heads should not be carried to the extreme of starting at the ground, as 

 this would hinder proper cultivation and favor the workings of the borer. 



FORMING THE HEAD. 



Some growers, after heading the trees in, 

 do not attempt to do anything toward form- 

 ing the heads until the following spring, 

 allowing them to grow as they please during 

 the summer unless they become quite notice- 

 ably misshapen, while others go around occa- 

 sionally and rub out the surplus shoots. In 

 the spring the head is formed by selecting 

 four or five strong branches so located as to 

 be well distributed along the stem for a dis- 

 tance of one foot down from the top and 

 pointing in different directions, thus form- 

 ing a well balanced head. A strong branch 

 with an upright tendency should be selected 

 as a leading shoot. It will be found prefer- 

 able to have the branches somewhat distrib- 

 uted, as they will be less likely to break down 

 later on than if they were all crowded 

 together at one point. The side shoots that 

 are left should be cut back about one half 

 their length. The leader should be kept 

 somewhat longer and trained so that other 

 branches will be given off from it. If this 

 is done it will be found much better than to 

 have all the branches needed to form the 

 head developed as side shoots from those 

 left upon the tree when the head was first 

 formed. 



Fig. 2.— Peuning at end of two xeabs. 



PRUNING THE TREES. 



After the first year, as a rule, only one annual pruning is given, although, 

 if any shoots are noticed that are out of place, it is well to remove them at 

 any time. 



The spring is considered to be the best time for the pruning of the 

 peach, and for that matter of all trees, the work being performed after the 

 severe weather of winter is over. For the best results a peach tree can 

 carry about so many branches and so much fruit, and to secure this one of 

 the following two methods of pruning is commonly employed, the first 

 being to head back, the other to thin out the small branches. By heading 

 back the branches a low, rounded and symmetrical tree is secured, from 

 which the fruit can be readily thinned and picked; the buds remaining 

 will develop a few strong shoots, well back toward the base of the 

 branches, the tree will be less likely to break down, and the stem and main 

 shoots, being sheltered from the sun, will be more vigorous and healthy 



