PEUNINa AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PEACH IEEE. 



lished. The former should be pinched when three or four inches long ; the others 

 must be left untouched till they attain the length of from twelve to sixteen inches. 

 In every case we must bear in mind the necessity of preventing the eyes that form on 

 the young shoots, and especially those on their bases, from becoming blind, which 

 might take place if the shoots were allowed to grow too long. We must also avoid, 

 as much as possible, the pinching of them before they are of sufficient length, as it is 

 likely to make them produce laterals, I usually pinch the young shoots behind a leaf, 

 so that the tree does not appear to have undergone the operation ; and many cultiva- 

 tors wonder at the regularity and well-balanced strength of its shoots. 



128. Some laterals can not be prevented from forming on the young shoots that 

 are retained, and particularly on those which have been pinched. The laterals which 

 push on the leading shoots should, for the most part, be pinched when six to eight 

 inches in length, above the second, or from that to the sixth leaf, according to their 

 strength. On the leading shoots, pinching should be preferred to disbudding, which 

 entirely destroys the origin of the lateral. Pinching, moreover, is favorable to its 

 good organization, by encouraging the eyes that are formed along its base, and which 

 fit it for becoming a fruit-branch on the prolonging shoot when the latter shall have 

 become a wood-branch. 



129. It is by no means uncommon for the terminal shoots of fruit-branches, situated 

 on the upper sides of the principal branches, to grow to an extent likely to prove 

 hurtful to the successional shoot. The former must then be pinched, but leaving it so 

 long as not to make too much sap flow to the latter. If this pinching cause some of 

 the eyes to burst into laterals, it must be discontinued, and the shoots must be cut 

 down to the lowest lateral by a summer-pruning. If, in its turn, the young succes- 

 sional shoot acquire too much strength in consequence of these operations, we must 

 endeavor to moderate it by pinching. If, occasionally, some of its eyes push laterals, 

 it may be cut down, by summer-pruning, on a dormant eye ; or, if none such exist, 

 on its lowest lateral. 



130. With respect to the laterals which break out prematurely on the young shoots, 

 pinching is much more important for those situated on the upper side than for those 

 on the lower. The latter, from having a less flow of sap, do not always require to 

 undergo this operation. 



131. Pinching being an operation entirely depending on foresight, it should be 

 well considered ; for when carried to too great an extent, its effects are disastrous : 

 therefore I recommend great care to be taken in practising it ; and I may say, that on 

 my trees only a third, at most, of the young shoots undergo the operation. 



VIII. Thinning the Fruit. 



132. The danger of frosts, which are often so fatal to the blossoms of the Peach 

 tree, obliges us, at the time of pruning, to retain more flowers than is absolutely 

 necessary ; and if the weather be favorable, too many fruits is the consequence. 

 Fructification being a very trying process, the trees might be injured by its being 

 allowed to take place too extensively ; therefore an excessive setting of fruit must be 



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