7 o THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



2 feet in length, and is not well ripened at its point, it may be shortened one- 

 third of its length at the autumn pruning. In the following year the side shoots 

 from the subsidiary branch produce fruit, as represented in ( U). A shoot is origi- 

 nated from the base of each to displace them in bearing next year, with others at 12 

 to 15 inches distance above them, and the leader continued. When its limit is 

 reached a shoot is taken from its base, and the part above cut out after bearing, and so 

 a succession of fruiting wood is maintained. 



A subsidiary branch in its fourth year is shown on page 69 ( F), branch extension, 

 the origination of side growths, the maintenance of a successional supply of bearing 

 wood, and the treatment of spurs being clearly indicated. Subsidiary branches are, 

 equally with main branches, liable to collapse, and a young shoot should always be kept 

 in reserve as near the main branch as possible to replace old with young wood. A shoot 

 of this description is shown at the base on the left-hand side of the branch, and where 

 there is space it may be allowed to extend preparatory to supplanting the subsi- 

 diary branch ; but the tree must not be crowded with wood, and all the shoots and 

 leaves must have full exposure to light and air, or it will be futile to expect healthy, 

 fruitful trees. 



There is sometimes a difficulty in obtaining the successional basal shoot advised, and 

 then suitable contiguous growth must be trained in for insuring a successional supply of 

 young bearing wood from the main branch, as shown in the illustration, Fig. 27. 



As it is always advisable to remove enfeebled parts, vigorous growth should be 

 encouraged from the extremity of the lower left-hand side shoot, u y as shown by the 

 dotted extension lines ; then the whole of the subsidiary branch may be cut boldly back 

 to the dotted bar at the base, and new growth encouraged from the main branch, to 

 be properly disposed as shown on the right-hand side of the figure. 



Short Pruning. The principle is to originate side shoots from a stem or main branch, 

 and by pinching these at 6 inches of growth to induce blossom buds to form abundantly. 

 A shoot stopped as suggested is shown by the bar in X (Fig. 28, p. 72), and all the 

 subsequent pruning needed is shortening the soft lateral growths to the extent shown by 

 the dotted bars. The following year bearing follows, as shown in Y, a young shoot being at 

 the same time produced for the succeeding crop, after the old bearing portion is cut out at 

 the bar as soon as the fruits are gathered. The two figures referred to are illustrative 

 of well -managed trees, those to which attention is next directed pertaining to trees in an 

 unsatisfactory condition, "When the root action of a tree is too powerful, and no attempt 



