PRUNING, AND GENERAL CULTIVATION. 127 



fruit unless the wood is well ripened and the fruit buds 

 fully matured. 



By the second year the tree will be well furnished with 

 shoots, and the foundation will be laid for a good tree. 

 The subsequent pruning required will be a repetition of 

 the same process of doubling the leaders where necessary 

 to fill the space evenly as they extend, until the wall is 

 covered. As to the body of the tree, all surplus and rank 

 shoots must be cut clean away annually, the moderate 

 sized ones being retained and distributed evenly over the 

 tree, allowing them to attain their full length without 

 any pinching back or shortening, as it will be upon these 

 shoots that the next year's crop will be borne. These 

 shoots, as they advance in growth, should be tied in, or 

 held back by small twigs placed across them from branch 

 to branch, to allow the sun full play upon the fruit and 

 young wood. 



Blossoming and Fertilizing. As peaches, apricots, and 

 nectarines expand their blossoms very early, it sometimes 

 happens that if the weather is cold and dull the bees 

 cannot visit the flowers, and consequently they do not 

 become properly fertilized, and a crop is frequently lost 

 from no other reason than this. If, therefore, it is noticed 

 that the bees do not visit the flowers at the time of 

 opening, it is highly desirable to fertilize by hand. 

 This is easily done by using a soft camel's-hair brush and 

 lightly passing it over the centres of the flowers to distri- 

 bute the pollen. This should be done when the stamens 

 are dry. The great importance of the proper fertilization 

 of fruit is not sufficiently realized, and every gardener 

 and fruit-grower should keep bees for this purpose, unless 

 there are sufficient in the immediate vicinity. 



Tldnning the Fruit. If the tree is heavily laden with 



