PRUNING 



711 



PRUNUS 



upon those buds remaining at its extremity, these will 

 be productive of shoots, though otherwise they would 

 have remained dormant, it being the general habit of 

 plants first to develop and mature those parts that are 

 farthest from the roots. It is thus that the filbert is 

 induced to put forth an abundance of young bearing 

 wood, for its fruit is borne on the annual shoots, and 

 similar treatment to a less severe extent is practised 

 upon wall-fruit. 



The chief guide in pruning consists in being well 

 acquainted with the mode of the bearing of the different 

 sorts of trees, and forming an early judgment of the 

 future events of shoots and branches, and many other 

 circumstances, for which some principal rules may be 

 given ; but there are particular instances which cannot 

 be judged of but upon the spot, and depend chiefly upon 

 practice and observation. Peaches, Nectarines, and 

 Apricots all produce their fruit principally upon the young 

 wood of a year old ; that is, the shoots produced this 

 year bear the year following ; so that in all these trees 

 a general supply of the best shoots of each year must be 

 everywhere preserved at regular distances, from the 

 very bottom to the extremity of the tree on every side ; 

 but in winter-pruning, or general shortening, less or more, 

 according to the strength of the different shoots, is neces- 

 sary, in order to promote their throwing out, more 

 effectually, a supply of young wood the ensuing summer, 

 in proper place for training in for the succeeding year's 

 bearing. 



Vines produce their fruit always upon the young 

 wood-shoots of the same year, arising from the eyes of 

 the last year's wood only ; and must, therefore, have a 

 general supply of the best regular shoots of each year 

 trained in, which, in winter-pruning, must be shortened 

 to a few eyes, in order to force out shoots from their 

 lower parts, only properly situated to lay in for bearing 

 the following year. 



Figs bear also only upon the young wood of a year 

 old, and a general supply of it is therefore necessary 

 every year ; but these shoots must at no time be 

 shortened, unless the ends are dead, because they always 

 bear principally towards the extreme part of the shoots, 

 which, if shortened, would take the bearing or fruitful 

 parts away ; besides, they naturally throw out a sufficient 

 supply of snoots every year for future bearing, without 

 the precaution of shortening. 



Apple, Pear, Plum, and Cherry trees bear principally 

 on spurs, arising in the wood of from two or three to ten 

 or twenty years old, the same branches and spurs con- 

 tinuing to bear a great number of years ; so that, having 

 once procured a proper set of branches to form a spread- 

 ing head, no farther supply of wood is wanted than 

 some occasional shoots now and then to supply the place 

 of any worn-out or dead branch. The above-mentioned 

 spurs or fruit-buds are short, robust shoots of from 

 about inch to i or 2 inches long, arising naturally, first 

 towards the extreme parts of the branches of two or 

 three years old, and as the branch increases in length, 

 the number of fruit-buds increase accordingly. 



In pruning, always cut quite close, both in the summer 

 and winter pruning. In the summer pruning, if attended 

 to early, while the shoots are quite young and tender, 

 they maybe readily rubbed off quite close with the thumb ; 

 but when the shoots become older and woody, as they 

 will not readily break, it must be done with a knife, 

 cutting them as close as possible ; and all winter-pruning 

 must always be performed with a knife. 



Summer-pruning is a most necessary operation. Young 

 shoots require thinning to preserve the beauty of the 

 trees and encourage the fruit ; and the sooner it is 

 performed the better. It is therefore advisable to 

 begin this work in May, or early in June, removing all 

 superfluous growths and ill-placed shoots, which may 

 be done with considerably more expedition and exact- 

 ness than when the trees have shot a considerable 

 length. Where, however, a tree is inclined to luxuriancy, 

 it is proper to retain as many of the regular shoots as 

 can be commodiously trained in with any regularity, in 

 order to divide and exhaust the too abundant sap. It 

 will be necessary to review the trees occasionally, in 

 order to reform such branches or shoots as may have 

 started from their places, or taken a wrong direction ; 

 and according as any fresh irregular shoots produced 

 after the general dressing may be displaced, or as the 

 already trained ones advance in length, or project from 

 the wall or espalier, they should be trained in close. 



In the winter-pruning, a general regulation must be 

 observed, both of the mother branches, and the supply 

 of young wood laid in the preceding summer ; and the 

 proper time for this work is any time in open weather, 

 from the fall of the leaf in November, until March ; but 

 the sooner the better. In performing this work, it is 

 proper to unnail or loosen a chief part of the branches, 

 particularly of peaches, nectarines, apricots, vines, and 

 other trees requiring an annual supply of young wood. 



PBUNOTSIS LTNDLEYI. See PRUNUS TRILOBA. 



PEU'NUS. Plum. (From prunus, a plum-tree. 

 Nat. ord. Roseworts [Rosaceae]. Linn. iz-Icosandria, 

 I - M onogy nia . ) 



Hardy deciduous trees, white-flowered, and blooming 

 in April. Seeds for varieties and stocks, suckers for 

 grafting and budding ; deep, loamy soil, if calcareous all 

 the better. For the cultivated Plum, the Muscle and 

 St. Julian stocks are generally used. When dwarfs are 

 desired, the Myrobalan Plum is preferred. To obtain 

 stocks in great plenty, the long shoots from the stools 

 of last year's growth are laid down in the spring their 

 full length, and covered with soil; almost every bud 

 sends up a shoot, and roots are formed nearly contem- 

 poraneously. In autumn, the shoot laid down is cut 

 off, and then cut into as many pieces as there are young 

 shoots and roots. See PLUM. 



The above paragraph refers to the species of Plum 

 proper, but as all the stone fruits belonging to the order, 

 and known as Peaches, Almonds, Apricots, Plums, 

 Cherries, Bird Cherries, and Cherry Laurels, have been 

 united under the name of Prunus by the Genera Plant' 

 arum, we here give them under their correct names, 

 but in six sections, headed by the popular names by 

 which they are best known. This necessitates six alpha- 

 betical lists, but the method of arrangement has the 

 merit of showing the relationship of the species at a 

 glance. 



ALMONDS, PEACHES, AND NECTARINES (Amygdalus). 



P. Amy'gdalus (Amygdalus). 15-25. Red or rose. 



March, April. S. Europe, Levant, &c. 1548. 



" Almond." 



a'lba (white). White. March, April. 

 ama'ra (bitter). 15. Red. April. N. Africa. 



1548. " Bitter Almond." 

 ama'ra sylve'stris(vnld). 15. Red. April. "Wild 



Bitter Almond." 

 du'lcis (sweet). 15. Red. March, April. 1548. 



" Sweet Almond." 

 flo're ple'no (double-flowered). 15. Red. March, 



April. 1548. 

 ,, fo'liis variega'tis (leaves variegated). 15. Red. 



March, April. 1548. 

 fra'gilis (brittle). 15. Red. April. N. Africa. 



1548. 

 grandiflo'raro'sea (large-flowered-rosy). 15. Rose. 



March, April. 1548. 

 macroca'rpa (long- fruited). 15. Red. April. 



N. Africa. 1548. 



na'na (dwarf). See P. NANA. 

 pe'ndula (drooping). 15. White. March, April. 



1548. 

 persicoi'des (peach-like). 15. Red. April. N. 



Africa. 1548. 



pu'mila (dwarf). 2-3. Rose. 

 salicifo'lia (willow-leaved). 15. White. March, 



April. 1548. 



Anderso'ni (Anderson's). Western United States. 

 Boissie'ri (Boissier's). 4-6. Pale rose. Asia Minor. 



1879. 

 ,, cochinchine'nsis (Cochin-China). 30-40. White. 



March, April. Cochin-China. 1825. Greenhouse. 

 davidia'na (Davidian). 10-25. P a l e rose. February 



to April. China. 1871. The presumed origin of 



the Peach. 

 a'lba (white). 10-25. White. February to April. 



China. 1872. 



ebu'rnea (ivory). Persia, &c. 

 inca'na (hoary). 4-6. Red. March, April. Asia 



Minor; Caucasus. 1815. 

 campe'stris (field). See P. KAMA ALBA. 

 ,, geo'rgica (Georgian). See P. NANA GEORGICA. 

 Jacquemo'ntii (Jacquemont's). 10. Pink. May. 



Afghanistan ; Himalaya. 1886. 



