TREES IN POTS 379 



than what has been mentioned, and to keep them in health 

 and free from pests. If the plant lice are not promptly 

 removed, they greatly injure the young trees while they are 

 yet developing their structure, as they suck out completely 

 the young shoots so that they dry out. If we have one- 

 year-old stems of pears and plums which, during the first 

 year, have clothed themselves all over and in a regular 

 manner with shoots, beginning fifteen centimeters above 

 the ground, we cut these back to three buds. The stem 

 itself is taken back one -third its length, and is then and 

 ever thereafter cut to a spur or stub. 



"THE SECOND YEAR. At the winter pruning of the sec- 

 ond year, the side shoots of seed fruits are reduced to four 

 to six buds and those of the stone fruits to three to four 

 buds. With the seed fruits, we try to call forth weak 

 shoots from all buds by means of cross-cuts above them. 

 In the case of stone fruits, this must never be done, as 

 by this means the outflow of sap and the so-called bleed- 

 ing would be induced. The stem, when strong and over 

 thirty centimeters long, is cut back to one -half its length, 

 or to about six to eight buds. Weak and short shoots up 

 to twenty centimeters remain uncut. The summer pruning 

 or pinching back is practiced on all trees. As soon as 

 the strongest shoots have developed six buds, they are 

 pinched back to four buds, and this treatment is gradually 

 given to the others as they develop. If the shoots should 

 again grow out, the new growth is pinched back to two 

 buds, and this treatment is continued all summer, so that 

 every new shoot is reduced to two buds. This repeated 

 pinching has for its object the thickening of the buds at 

 the base of the shoot and to change them to fruit -buds. 

 The bearing wood in the seed fruits can bear fruit for 

 years, and it is therefore only necessary to induce the 

 gradual change of the woody shoots into bearing wood. 



"The tree in July of its second year is shown in Fig. 246. 

 Z is the stub to be removed in July at the point S. At a 



