92 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



of breakage, decay is apt to set in. The entrance of decay 

 fungi through some such wound, or even through a very 

 tiny crevice at such a crotch, is the beginning of the end 

 of many a fruitful tree. 



Sometimes a tree will go too much to wood and too little 

 to fruit. This often happens in rich soil, and may be reme- 

 died by another kind of pruning known as root pruning. 

 This consists in cutting off a few of the roots in order to 

 limit the food supply of the plant. You should learn more 

 about root pruning, however, before you attempt it. 



A recent writer asks and answers the following questions : 



" How is a peach tree made? In 1898 a pit or seed is saved. In 

 the spring of 1899 it is planted. The young tree comes up quickly. 

 In August, 1899, the little stock has one bud of the desired variety 

 inserted near the ground. In the spring of 1900 the stock is sev- 

 ered just above the bud, the bud throws out a shoot which grows 

 to a height of four or six feet, and in the fall of 1900 the tree is 

 sold. It is known as a year-old tree, but the root is two years old. 



" How is an apple tree made? The seed is saved in 1898, planted 

 in 1899. The seedlings do not grow so rapidly as those of the peach. 

 At the end of 1899 they are taken up and sorted, and in the spring 

 of 1900 they are planted. In July or August, 1900, they are budded. 

 In the spring of 1901 the stock is cut off above the bud, and the 

 bud shoot grows three or four feet. In 1902 the shoot branches, or 

 the top begins to form ; and in the fall of 1902 the tree may be sold 

 as a two-year old, although most persons prefer to buy it in 1903 as a 

 three-year old. In some parts of the country, particularly in the 

 West, the little seedling is grafted in the winter of 1899-1900, in a 

 grafting room ; and the young grafts are set in the nursery row in the 

 spring of 1900, to complete their growth." 



