154 FRUIT CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 



of all the young shoots. This encouragement of lateral 

 growths, especially on the young wood in the centre 

 of the tree, gives sufficient to furnish the tree without 

 having recourse to the undesirable practice of first 

 allowing a few very strong leaders to monopolise the 

 sap, and then to cut them down at the winter pruning. 

 In this way much time is gained in covering a wall 

 or trellis with bearing wood. 



A young tree thus managed on what may be termed 

 a mean between the extension and the cutting-hard- 

 back systems, produces a comparatively large well- 

 furmshed tree the autumn after it is planted, and one 

 which requires very little or no winter pruning before 

 starting it into another year's growth. If the sum- 

 mer disbudding and pinching of the first season's 

 growth have been properly attended to, the tree 

 will be so thoroughly furnished with young wood 

 that all the pruning that should be done is simply 

 to remove any shoots that would crowd the tree. 

 The distance between the shoots should not be less 

 than 3 or 4 inches. In February 1878, I planted 

 a number of young peaches and nectarines in an 

 orchard-house. In the autumn not a single shoot 

 was shortened back, and at the close of their second 

 year's growth the trees thoroughly furnished in many 

 instances spaces of 18 feet by 13 feet, and a great 

 many of them 16 feet by 12 feet, besides bearing 

 a good crop the season after being planted. There 

 are some magnificent trees at Brayton Hall, which Mr 

 Hammond, the able gardener there, managed on the 

 extension system, and consequently filled their allot- 

 ted spaces and bore grand crops in half the time in 

 which this could have been done by the old cutting- 

 back system. 



