IRISH GARDENING. 



growth, it sometimes develops into a spur, 

 and very absurd and unnatural such a spur 

 looks ; or weak, thin shoots from lateral buds 

 frequently develop a spur at their extremities, 

 these being fat and thick compared to the thin 

 shoots vi'hich carry them. 



Let us now see if the effects of summer 

 pruning- are such as to bring- about the object 

 desired. That the summer pruning of wall 

 trees is desirable and necessary is generally 

 admitted and rarely disputed. If a gardener 

 be asked why he summer prunes wall trees he 

 will reply, to keep his spurs short and close 

 to the wall. These objects are reasonable 

 and commendable. Another reason sometimes 

 given is to let the sun and light reach the ripen- 

 ing fruit. To this answer also no exception can 

 be taken. If asked how summer pruning helps, 

 he will explain that removing the leads causes 

 the buds close to the base of the shoot to fill 

 and to develop into spurs. Very similar reasons 

 render summer pruning of trees in the open 

 necessary and desirable. During active growth 

 of the leading shoots, the centre of activity and 

 energy is in the apical or terminal bud. It is 

 there that new cells are being formed, it is there 

 that food is most required, and it is to this point 

 that the food supply is rapidly hurried. Mean- 

 time the buds lower down on the older wood 

 get less and less food, and their development is 

 arrested. They are only partially developed, 

 the cell walls become thickened, only a compara- 

 tively small porl'on of tissue remaining capable 

 of growth. Toy. "ds the end of the growing 

 season the terminal bud changes its nature. In- 

 stead of being a long, soft bud, with young un- 

 protected leaves showing, it becomes round and 

 bkmt, and protecting scales instead of leaves de- 

 velop. This is Nature's process of summer prun- 

 ing. The buds near the apex are soft and young, 

 and they take advantage of the lessened demand 

 for food ; they fill and plump up, and from some 

 of them spurs will be developed next season. 

 Nature's pruning comes too late to be of assist- 

 ance to the poor starved buds at the base of the 

 shoot. Are these spurs near the apex of the 

 shoot where the fruit grower would like to have 

 them ? Certainly not ! He will cut most of 

 them away during the winter pruning. The 

 whole object of pruning of every sort should be 

 to get the best formation of tree for carrying 

 fruit and for letting sunlight and air at the 

 fruit ; to get the fruit-bearing wood evenly dis- 

 tributed over the surface of the tree, and to 

 have the least possible amount of unproductive 

 wood in the tree. If in summer we remove the 

 leading bud from the most important shoots, 

 with or without a portion of varying length of 

 the shoot itself, we check the direct growth of 

 the shoot, and so food which would be used up 

 by the removed bud becomes available for the 



remaining buds, which instead of remaining 

 inert and starved, as otherwise they would have 

 been coerced to, fill up, and become prominent. 

 In the spring, after the winter pruning, most of 

 these buds break into growth. Two or three of 

 those nearest the apex generally develop into 

 ordinary vegetative shoots, the lower ones de- 

 velop into spurs, and so each year's wood be- 

 comes completely furnished with spurs. Had it 

 not been for the summer stopping much more 

 severe winter pruning would be requisite to 

 bring about this result, and in some cases the 

 eyes would be incapable of growing, no matter 

 how hard the shoots are cut back. Great mis- 

 takes are often made in summer pruning, and 

 the whole system is consequently discredited. 

 Ordinary intelligent observation must be used, 

 and time and method must be settled accord- 

 ingly. As to time, no fixed date can be given. 

 An intelligent operator wall not prune his trees 

 in the open at the same time that he summer 

 prunes his wall trees. The trees against the 

 wall start earlier into growth. Owing to the 

 protection they derive from the wall and the 

 higher temperature close to the wall for most 

 of the twenty-four hours of the day, if not for 

 all of them, these trees mature their growths 

 early, and so may be pruned early. In the open 

 trees are rarely fit for stopping before the end of 

 July, and it may be the end of August before they 

 can be touched. If pruned too early, the object 

 for which pruning is carried out is defeated. The 

 trees being still full of the energy of growth, 

 this energy manifests itself by causing the eyes 

 from which it was hoped to obtain spurs to 

 break into vegetative growths during what re- 

 mains of the growing season. To avoid any 

 chance of this some growers never stop the 

 leading shoots, but confine their operations to 

 stopping the laterals Again, no definite rule 

 can be laid down as to the amount to be re- 

 moved when summer pruning. In heavy, good 

 soil simple pinching may be, and often is, quite 

 sufficient, as owmg to the exuberant vitality of 

 the trees, happy in their surroundings, if several 

 eyes are removed many of the remaining eyes, 

 instead of merely filling up ready to break away 

 in the spring, actuallv break the same season, 

 just as if they had been pruned too early. On 

 dry, light soils and in exposed situations it 

 ma}' be necessary to remove several eyes. 



Owing to the manner in which the buds are 

 disposed on the branches of our hardy fruit 

 trees, it is impossible, unless disbudding were 

 regularly practised, which itself would be 

 practically impossible, to ensure that shoots 

 shall come exactly where we wish them to. 

 Sonie will develop towards the centre of the 

 tree, some will lie across other branches, and 

 in fact place themselves exactly where they are 

 not wanted. The removal of these is what is 



