PRUNING 25 



instead of forming fruit buds, as some of them, at least, 

 should do. The reader has only to try an experiment 

 to be convinced of the value of summer pruning. Let 

 him, for instance, choose two healthy shoots upon 

 different branches of the same tree, one to be left un- 

 checked until winter, the other to be pruned in summer, 

 and then note the nature of the buds formed upon the 

 basal portion of the shoots the following year. The 

 great value of pruning lies not so much in the removal of 

 wood, but rather in its regulation. The better regulated 

 it is, the less will be the need of removing growth, and 

 with advantage to the tree. 



Summer Priming. This practice consists of pinching 

 with the hand, or cutting off with the knife or secateurs 

 some considerable portion of the current year's growth, 

 and the object is, instead of permitting a lot of useless 

 growth to be made, to endeavour to direct the energy 

 of the tree in a more worthy direction, namely, the 

 formation of fruit buds. It is the lateral shoots, that 

 is those emanating from the sides of the branches, or 

 from the spurs upon the latter, that are to be summer 

 pruned. The leading shoots are best left alone, unless of 

 course they are making unduly vigorous growth, when 

 a slight stopping would do good. The side shoots 

 must be shortened to within six leaves of their bases 

 (the small leaves at the extreme bottom of the shoot 

 must not be counted), in either of the ways above 

 mentioned. The best time to do the work of summer 

 pruning is about the middle of July. Care must be 

 taken not to leave the shoot longer than the six leaves 

 from its base before referred to, for we have found that 

 often a fruit bud will form so high up the shoot as to 

 be useless, since it has to be cut away at the winter prun- 

 ing. Supposing, however, that one were pruning a shy 

 bearing variety, and a fruit bud formed at some distance 

 from the base of the shoot, it would be advisable to 



