WHEN DO FRUIT -BUDS FORM? 183 



buds do not grow out into long laterals. * 

 To prevent disappointments, we state emphat- 

 ically, as the practice is very common, that 

 no fixed rule can be laid down for the com- 

 mencement of summer pruning. Trees may even 

 be pinched to death. The favorable time for 

 this operation depends on the climate, the soil, 

 the variety and even upon the individual char- 

 acteristics of the plant." 



The reader should know that the effect of 

 this pinching depends very much on the gen- 

 eral habit and vigor of the plant, and that it 

 is very difficult to predict results unless the 

 particular plant has been under training for 

 some time (and preferably from the time it was 

 planted). The best results in pinching the tips 

 of shoots are obtained when plants are trained 

 to definite forms, as on walls, cordons, in glass 

 houses, or in arbitrary pyramids or other geo- 

 metrical figures. The practice is, therefore, of 

 little use in the commercial fruit-growing of 

 this country. 



The operator must not expect fruit -buds to 

 form in the same year in which pinching or 

 heading -back is done, although such immediate 

 results are sometimes obtained. If heading -in 

 is done before active growth has ceased, mis- 

 chievous lateral growths may be expected (Sec- 

 tion 9) ; if done after the leaves have ceased 

 to be active, little if any results may be antici- 



