OP FRUIT TREES. 197 



are round, short, and prominent, while the wood, 

 or shoot buds are oblong, narrow, and flattish. 

 Sometimes whole trees, or a large proportion of 

 the branches, produce nothing but single flower 

 buds, and in pruning, if a shoot be cut off at a single 

 flower bud, the remains' of it, as far down as the 

 next wood bud, it is said, will surely die ; it must, 

 therefore, be observed, as a rule, to cut just above 

 the cluster of three buds, and the wood bud will 

 shoot forth and become the leader, arid be prepar- 

 ed to produce fruit the next year. 



It is the practice of Mr. Forsyth, when old 

 peach trees run up too high and thin, to cut them 

 down as far back as he can find any shoots or buds, 

 always leaving some young shoots or buds, other- 

 wise there will be great risk of killing the tree. 

 If there are a few young shoots, the top may with 

 safety be cut off just above them, as they will lead 

 the sap up, and produce strong branches, which 

 should be topped, the same as a young tree. The 

 operation should be performed in the month of 

 May, and the young shoots will bear fruit the next 

 season. The composition must be applied to the 

 wounds, where the old branches are amputated, 

 and the canker should be carefully cut out, and any 

 part where the gum is seen to ooze, or the new 

 wood will be affected as it begins to grow. When 

 young trees are overloaded with fruit, it is abso- 

 lutely necessary to thin them out while small, ac- 

 cording to the strength of the tree. 



" The premature decay of peach trees has been 

 ascribed to various causes; by some, to the dege- 

 neracy of the soil, and neglecting to mature them 

 regularly; by others, to the supposed alteration of 

 the climate, the changes from heat to cold being 

 more sudden and violent now than formerly, when 

 the country was more in forest. But the true 

 causes, as detailed by Dr. Mease, (Dom. Ency.) 

 seem to be the following." 



