TRANSPLANTING. 71 



second year, the deep green and luxuriant foliage of the 

 pruned trees afforded a strong contrast with the paler and 

 more feeble appearance of the other.* A similar experi- 

 ment was made with 78 peach trees, of large size, three 

 years' growth from the bud. One-half were headed back 

 so as to reduce the buds one-half ; the rest were unpruned. 

 The season was rather dry, and twelve of the 39 unpruned 

 trees perished; and only one of those which were headed 

 back. The unpruned, which survived, lost parts or the 

 whole of the upper portions of their branches ; the pruned, 

 made fine bushy heads of new shoots.* It has been found 

 useful to shorten in the shoots of peach trees so severely as 

 to reduce the heads to only one quarter of the original number 

 of buds. This was tried with great success the past season. 

 Trees, only one year's growth from the bud, transplanted 

 in the usual manner unpruned, were placed side by side 

 with others of four years' growth, and with trunks an inch 

 and a half in diameter, the heads being pruned to one 

 quarter their size. The growth of the former was feeble; 

 the large trees, with pruned heads grew vigorously. Again, 

 trees set out before the buds had opened, and without 

 pruning, presented a more feeble growth than others re- 

 moved when the leaves were an inch long, with a copious 

 shortening-in of the branches. 



The degree to which this shortening should be carried, 

 must depend much on climate. In the cool moist atmos- 

 phere of England, the leaves perspire less, and a larger 

 number may remain without exhausting the supply from 

 the roots. In this country, the perspiration is more rapid, 

 and fewer leaves can be fed, until new roots furnish 

 increased supplies. 



But in no case should the lopping be excessive ; for as 

 the reproduction of roots depends upon the action of the 

 leaves, a disproportionately small number of the latter, 

 would fail to produce a speedy renewal of the former. 



And especially, no one should unnecessarily mutilate the 

 roots, with the hope that lopping the head will remedy the 

 evil; for it rarely happens, that with the most careful 

 digging, more than one half the entire amount of roots will 

 be secured, which would in that case, require the removal 



Hort., Vol. II., p. 319. 



4 



