122 



PRUNING 



in that time ten or a dozen apples. Think of the value of such 

 a little spur to the man who owns the tree, and yet he is fre- 

 quently the very man who cuts it off. The second point to be 

 emphasized is that once these spurs are cut or broken away, they 

 can never be developed again at that particular spot. The only 

 possible way that this section of the tree can be again brought 

 into usefulness is by developing water-sprouts on these bare 



branches and then growing 

 fruit spurs on the water- 

 sprouts. And this is a long 

 and difficult process. 



Pruning the apple or pear 

 tree, therefore, ought to con- 

 sist in thinning out the top so 

 as to let in enough light and 

 air to keep it healthy, and 

 in persistently holding on to 

 these small spurs just as long 

 as they remain productive. 



How Peaches are Borne. 

 Now contrast this method of 

 bearing and pruning with the 

 peach. It is about as different 

 as one can well imagine. To 

 begin with, the peach always 

 bears on last year's shoots in- 

 stead of on these ancient little 

 spurs (Fig. 49). Then the 

 fruit buds, instead of being 

 " mixed " buds, as in the apple, which produce both leaves and 

 blossoms, are plain blossom buds, each winter bud containing a 

 single peach blossom. This is probably one reason why peaches 

 are more subject to winter-killing of the fruit buds than apples. 

 They are not nearly so well protected. And lastly the bearing 

 section of the tree in the peach migrates along the branch, as we 

 might say, instead of remaining practically stationary for years, 

 as in the apple. 



FIG. 49. Young peaches just set. Notice 

 that most nodes have two peaches and a 

 cluster of leaves. 



