PEACHES. 115 



regular distances, carefully avoiding crowding. In the 

 centre and lower part of the tree there may be room for 

 but one side-shoot of each branch, as well as the leading 

 shoot, but with the strong branches near the extremi- 

 ties two may sometimes be trained in. 



If the winter pruning have left room enough, it is a 

 better plan to cultivate two shoots from each main shoot, 

 one, low down, on each side, by which means a good 

 supply of young wood can be kept up. When strong 

 shoots throw out laterals, it may be best to shorten, not 

 to cut them off close, as it sometimes happens that two 

 such laterals advantageously supply the place of the 

 centre branch, and become two fruitful branches in place 

 of one barren one. Extraordinarily vigorous young 

 shoots should be cut out, unless they are positively 

 required to fill up a vacancy on the wall. In summer 

 pruning, take care to leave no more shoots than will be 

 wanted as young wood for the next year : all crowded 

 growth and interlacing of redundancies are mischievous. 



To prevent injury from wind, nail in all the shoots 

 which are intended to remain as soon as they are about 

 six inches long, and continue to do so from time to time, 

 as needful. 



It is advantageous to disbud or pinch in at separate 

 times ; first in May, pinching or cutting off front and 

 back shoots. A few weeks later, most of the apparently 

 useless shoots may go ; and a little later still, the last 

 pinching may be attended to with discriminating selec- 

 tion, sparing a good allowance of the lowest-placed, 

 young, healthy shoots, as likely to carry on a succession 

 of bearing wood. All the disbudding should be com- 

 pleted by about midsummer. 



Protection of the bloom has been already spoken of in 

 Chapters VII. and XVII. It is generally required in 

 our climate. 



Thinning the fruit is necessary in all but very bad 

 seasons indeed. It is best done at several times, and it 

 must be managed with great caution, not to disturb, in 

 the slightest degree, the fruit which remains, and also 

 not to thin out too liberally at one time ; for it some- 



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