EXPERIMENT STATION WORK WITH PEACHES. 425 



PRUNING PEACHES. 



At the Massachusetts Station" a row of peach trees was left nine 

 years without pruning. As a result the trees grew open headed and 

 generally assumed a vase form, the lower part of the main branches, 

 being bare and the fruiting wood sparse, weak, and high up in the 

 trees. The trees were less thrifty and vigorous than pruned trees of 

 the same variety. Other experiments at the same station indicate 

 that heading back peach trees in earl}' spring is good practice and 

 in all cases advisable. From one-tliird to two-thirds of the length 

 of the new branch growth of the previous year should be removed, 

 depending upon the number of living fruit buds on the branch. 

 When fruit buds are killed advantage should be taken to cut back 

 ^^"ith comparative severity. Only in extraordinary cases, however, 

 should cutting extend back to 2 or 3 year old branches. 



As the result of three years' experiments in pruning peach trees 

 both in fall and in spring at the Micliigan Station^ it would seem 

 that the best time to prune is early in the spring before or at the 

 time the sap begins to circulate. It was noticed that when the trees 

 were fall pruned some of the branches killed back instead of healing 

 over, as they do when spring pruned. The yield of fruits proved to 

 be practically the same on the fall-pruned and spring-pruned trees. 

 "The practice of heading- in the peach trees in the fall or earh' winter, 

 or at any time in the \vinter when the wood is frozen, if continued 

 would seriously injure the trees." 



In a bulletin devoted to pruning and training peach orchards by 

 the Texas Station'^ a low-headed form of tree is advocated as a pro- 

 tection against sun scald and greater advantage in harvesting the 

 fruit. At the California Station the fruit was larger when the trees 

 were pruned after the fruit had set and the additional expense of 

 thinning was avoided.'' The Delaware,^ Alissouri,^ and Tennessee^ 

 stations have published popular bulletins devoted to the subject of 



pruning. 



RENEWING BY PRUNING. 



Peach orchards are often rejuvenated by pruning back when the 

 trees begin to show signs of lack of vigor. The old limbs are severely 

 pruned back, as the result of which many new branches push out 

 and these are thinned out sufficiently to make a good top. The New 

 Jersey stations '^ consider this method of removing the orchard 

 entirely practicable as a means of prolonging the life of the orchard. 

 If, however, the trees are dying because of the ravages of disease or 



o Massachusetts Sta. Rpt. 1904, p. 162. « Delaware Sta. Bui. 62. 



& Michigan Sta. Buls. 194, 205; Special Bui. 30. /Missouri Sta. Bui. 55. 



c Texas Sta. Bui. 58. £? Tennessee Sta. Bui. Vol. 17, No. 3. 



«? California Sta. Rpt. 1898, p. 314. 'i New Jersey Stas. Rpt. 1900, p. 255. 



