346 VILLA GARDENING part iv 



of their pruning and washing with Gishurst compound. By this 

 time the roots will be active, and will require watering, thou.L;h 

 not very frequently at first, unless the weather should be bright 

 and drying. The more roomy the house the better, and the less 

 need will tliere be for artificial heat to keep out frost when the 

 blooms are expanding. Until the trees come into blossom the 

 house may have full ventilation. It is never wise to hurry the 

 blooming, for retarding, if possible, is the better practice ; but as 

 soon as the blossoms begin to expand the ventilation should 

 be properly regulated, avoiding draught, as blossoms of fruit trees 

 are fragile things. A genial atmosphere, approaching dryness 

 rather than moistness, kept in motion by as many openings as the 

 state of the weather will permit, is the right condition to aim at. 



Pinching the Young Wood. — Though a good deal has been 

 written on this subject, some people are still uncertain as to the 

 right course to adopt. One thing may be stated with certainty, 

 that no hard unbending rule can be right for all trees. Trees of 

 exceptional strength or those of weakly habit must be considered 

 on their merits, apart from general principles. I do not recommend 

 Peaches to be closely pinched. Let them make 8 inches of wood 

 and then remove the terminal bud. The very vigorous trees 

 should be deprived of their gross shoots, and the exuberance 

 directed into less robust channels. That should be done as soon 

 as this tendency manifests itself in any part of the tree. It is an 

 easy matter to control growth if it is taken in time, and the evil 

 habit nipped in the bud. Weakly trees want encouragement, and 

 only a light load to carry till strength is regained, little or no 

 pinching being done till the growing season is far advanced, and 

 then taking out the terminal bud of the strongest shoots only. 

 The object of pinching is to concentrate force. One fruit is quite 

 enough for one young shoot to carry, and if the shoots are permitted 

 to rim themselves out unstopped, there is less strength in any 

 given length of branch. The aim is to stop the shoots so as to 

 throw the force into the back buds and foliage. If the pinching 

 takes place too early, the object will probably be defeated, because 

 the back eyes will push out laterals, and those again when stopped 

 will push out laterals in their turn. A continual state of excite- 

 ment and waste will thus be encouraged, whereas the object should 

 be to induce rest and maturity and form strong flower buds. 

 Plums may be more closely pinched than Peaches, 3 or 4 inches 

 of young wood being quite enough. In all cases a shoot should 

 be encouraged to gi'ow out at full length in various parts of 

 the tree for supplying vacancies and keeping up its stamina. 

 Some annual progress seems necessary to perfect health in all 



