6$ PEACH CULTURE. 



ger then that the warm sun in the daytime, and the cold 

 frosts at night will so dry and harden the stump, as to 

 obstruct the flow of sap to the top altogether, and thus 

 kill the bud by drying up the bark and cutting oif its 

 aliment. This sometimes happens, and is more likely to 

 occur in large, thrifty stocks than small ones. 



Neither must it be deferred too long ; as, in that case, 

 the sap will be drawn rapidly from the roots by the large 

 surface of the limbs and buds ; a direct current will be 

 established between the root and the top ; the bud, which 

 is one side of this current, will receive but little, and will 

 be retarded in its after growth, if not dwarfed altogether. 

 Besides, when cut late, numerous suckers will be thrown 

 up from the stem, and sometimes even from the roots. 



If the cutting is done at the proper time, just after the 

 sap begins to flow continuously, the bud will draw nutri- 

 ment immediately from the root, and make very rapid 

 and satisfactory growth. 



THE CUTTING. 



Cutting is done in this way. Take a common bill-hooked 

 pruning-knife, as sharp as it can be made. It should cut 

 as smooth as a razor. A dull knife is abominable, but a 

 sharp one the delight of the operator. It should be 

 sharp, because the work can be done faster, better, and 

 with more satisfaction. If it is dull, there is more or less 

 danger of loosening the bark around the edge of the 

 stump, and thus endangering the life or thrift of the bud. 



The operator, being provided with his sharp knife, be- 

 gins at the south end of the west row, or the west end 

 of the south row, according as they have been planted 

 north and south, or east and west. Placing himself on 

 the same side of the row with the bud, he seizes the first 

 tree, bends it slightly towards him, which facilitates the 

 excision, and inserting the edge of the knife on a level 



