Pruning Peach Trees 



183 



sity of heavy pruning during the dormant season, as might 

 otherwise be necessary. Frequently a tree will send up 

 sprouts from buds along the trunk and below where it is 

 desired the permanent head shall be formed. It is best to 

 remove these branches as soon as they appear. As a rule, 

 however, not very much thinning of the branches should be 

 done the first season unless 

 the top is becoming extremely 

 dense, since it will tend to 

 weaken the tree. For ex- 

 ample, Fig.^ 11 shows the tree 

 in Fig. 10 as it appeared after 

 it was summer pruned on July 

 8. (It was planted the pre- 

 vious spring.) It may be 

 doubted whether the tree was 

 not seriously checked by such 

 heavy pruning in midseason. 

 The pinching back of the 

 leading branches and the re- 

 moval of any superfluous 

 limbs which were obviously 



crowding and interfering with the development of permanent 

 limbs should usually be the extent of summer pruning the 

 first season. 



While the pruning done in the summer is aimed in part 

 toward shaping the permanent top of the tree, that which 

 is done during the first dormant period, that is, after the tree 

 has made one season's growi:h in the orchard, is perhaps 

 the most important in the life of the tree so far as the forma- 

 tion of the top is concerned. A tree at the time it is planted 

 is pruned either to a straight stem, or short stubs of side 



^'^^■ 



Fig. 11. — The tree in Fig. 10 

 after being heavily pruned in mid- 

 summer. 



