JAN.] 



THE- FRUIT GARDEN. 



39 



profusion and regularity of lateral branches. He does not wait till 

 his plant has grown tall and misshapen, but as soon as he sees well 

 formed buds in the axils of the leaves, he knows that by stopping the 

 terminal growth these buds will be forced onward and produce lateral 

 shoots. 



An undue share of vigor in one or more shoots, weakens all the 

 other parts of the tree by appropriating all the nutriment to them- 

 selves. Fig. 3 represents a tree which became slightly bent, and 

 this arrested the continuous flow of sap to the summit; the conse- 

 quence was the development of a very strong shoot, which controlled 

 the whole tree. That strong grower pushing out with undue vigor, 

 should have been checked, and thus an equal distribution of growth 

 would be secured, that would leave, at the end of the season, a tree 

 somewhat resembling Fig. 4. 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 4. 



Fig. 5. 



Fig. 6. 



Pinching is an indispensable operation in the management of trees 

 trained as dwarfs, pyramids, or espaliers. Most trees have a natural 

 tendency to grow most vigorously towards the top and at the ex- 

 tremity of the branches; this should be kept in continual check, for 

 if one portion be permitted but for a short time to grow more vigor- 

 ously than the others, the balance is destroyed, and much time and 

 severe measures are required to restore it. 



In the case of young trees that have been cut back for the purpose 

 of producing the pyramid form, it often happens that three or four 

 buds at the summit push so vigorously as to draw all the sap past 

 those below them, and a tree something like Fig. 5 is the result. If 

 the upper shoots next the leader had been checked by pinching, the 

 lower branches would have been benefited, and we should see a tree 

 like Fig. 6. 



PEACHES, NECTARINES, AND APRICOTS. 



In the training and pruning of peaches, nectarines, and apricots, 

 little or no difference is to be observed ; they all produce their fruit 



