PRUNING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PEACH TREE. 145 



order to make the roots strike out more horizontally, and to 

 prevent their going down too deep. This process has the 

 advantage of fitting the Almond for those soils which have but a 

 thin layer of vegetable earth. The Almond-trees will be ready 

 for budding at the end of August or beginning of September 

 following. 



36. If we bud on the Plum, suckers must be procured ; these 

 generally spring from the bottoms of large Plum-trees. The 

 preference is to be given to the Black Damask, which the cultivators 

 near Paris generally get from Fontenay-aux-Roses. These are 

 planted, on a properly prepared soil, from November till March ; 

 but November is preferable ; they are cut down nearly to the 

 level of the ground, when planted; and they are budded when they 

 have made fresh shoots fit for being worked at the proper season. 



37. The ground on which this nursery of Almond or Plum- 

 stocks is, ought to be kept perfectly clean. It is necessary to 

 give the ground several stirrings, so that it may be loose and free 

 from weeds. 



38. The Plum-stock is budded from the middle of July to 

 the middle of August ; and the Almond and Peach stocks from 

 the middle of August to the middle of September. The mode 

 employed is almost exclusively that of shield-budding. Care 

 must be taken that the buds are from very bealthy trees and 

 from shoots well ripened, and of a slightly abated growth. The 

 stocks which are to be budded must, on the contrai'y, have their 

 sap in full flow, so that, should the bud not take, the operation 

 can be repeated. On this account the Almond is the most 

 advantageous by reason of its late growth. As soon as the shoots 

 for furnishing buds are cut, the leaves are taken off, allowing a 

 portion of the stalk about one-third of an inch long to remain. 

 The spontaneous fall of this remaining portion of the stalk shows 

 that the bud has taken. Although it is always better to employ 

 the buds as soon as possible after the shoots have been cut off, 

 they may be very well preserved by keeping the bases of the 

 shoots in water. It is even good to adopt the same treatment for 

 buds that have come from a distance. 



39. The bud commonly takes in six or twelve days ; this is 

 known, as before said, by the fall of the stalk. If, on the contrary, 

 the stalk remains on, and the bud wither up and die, the stock 

 must be re-budded. 



40. Stocks can be budded, if planted in the place where the 

 tree is to be formed, quite as well as those in the nursery. The 



