Fruit Growing 31 



Treatment of laterals which come of themselves is another matter. 

 Do not clip the ends of shoots unless laterals are desired. If you 

 keep clipping the ends of apple twigs, you will get no fruit from some 

 varieties. 



Grafting Almond on Peach. 



/ had good success unth the peach trees zvhich I grafted to almond 

 last spring, getting about' 95 per cent of a stand, and many of the grafts 

 now are one and one-half inches diameter. In each of the trees I left 

 about a quarter of the branches, to keep up the grotmng process of the 

 tree. The universal practice around here in grafting is to cut the whole 

 top off the tree at the time of grafting, but the increased grozvth and 

 vigor of the grafts I have has proved to me and other groiuers around, 

 that much better results are obtained by leaving part of the top on the 

 tree at the time of grafting. 



You did exceedingly well with your grafting. It seems a more 

 rational way to proceed than by a total amputation, and yet ample 

 success is often attained by grafting for a whole new top at once. 



Pruning Almonds. 



Should the main brandies be shortened in a three-year-old almond 

 tree? Of course, I intend to thin out the branches. Some growers here 

 advise me to shorten the main branches; others say do not shorten them, 

 as it tends to give the trees a brushy top. 



Although some growers are contending for regular shortening-in 

 of the almond as is practiced on the peach, it is not usual to cut 

 back almond trees after they have reached three years of age and 

 have assumed good form. Of course, if cutting back is done, the 

 shoots coming from near the amputation must be thinned out to 

 prevent the brushiness j^our adviser properly objected to. 



Budding and Grafting Almonds. 



Is it better to bud or graft bitter almond seedlings of one year's 

 growth, and, as they must be transplanted, would it be proper to do the 

 work this season or defer it for another year's growth? 



Your almond seedlings should have been budded in July or August 

 after starting from the nut, which would have fitted them for planting 

 in orchard the following winter as dormant buds, as they cannot stay 

 where they are another season. Now you can transplant to nursery 

 rows in another place: cut back and graft as the buds are swelling, 

 allowing a good single shoot to grow from below on those which do 

 not start the grafts into which you can bud in June, and cut back the 

 stock to force growth as soon as the buds have taken. In this way 

 you will get the whole stock into trees for planting out next winter. 

 Some will be large and some small, but all will come through if planted 

 in good soil and cared for properly. Of course, you can plant out the 

 seedlings and graft and bud in the orchard, but it will be a lot of 

 trouble and you will get very irregular results. 



