436 



THE ORCHARD. 



[JUNE 



Fig. 49. 



Slioot of Peach-tree. 



shoot are blossom 

 buds, except the ter- 

 minal one and one or 

 two at the base. 

 Such shoot must 

 either be left its en- 

 tire length, or cut 

 back to the wood bud 

 at its base. The 

 shoots of the peach 

 naturally terminate 

 with a wood bud. If 

 this be cut off, the 

 blossoms on the part 

 left will expand and 

 the fruit may set, but 

 all will prematurely 

 drop ; thus, if all the 

 buds marked b were 

 blossom buds, they 

 would expand j but 

 the eight blossoms 

 would either drop 

 without setting, or 

 the fruit would drop 

 at the time of ston- 

 ing; at all events, a 

 leafless, budless shoot 

 would result, incapa- 

 ble of further vege- 

 tation. It dies down- 

 wards to the first 

 wood bud. The blos- 

 som buds, a of B, 

 will produce four 

 peaches, but one is 

 enough to leave to 

 come to perfection. 

 From the wood bud, 

 b, shoots will pro- 

 ceed; these, in the 

 course of the sum- 

 mer, will form buds 

 for future bearing j 

 and a twelvemonth 

 hence they will ap- 

 pear similar to those 

 on B, which having 

 once borne fruit can 

 do so no more, and 

 therefore its place 

 must be supplied by 



