THE PEACH. 187 



We conclude by two observations which are of great 

 importance for the success of this mode of training. 



1. It will not be advisable to apply the shoot pinch- 

 ing until the trees have been planted one year. During 

 the first year we must be content with the old method 

 of pinching. At the winter pruning all the branches 

 must be cut back above the bud nearest the base, and 

 the shoot that springs from it must be pinched short. 

 By this method the reforming of the tree is facilitated, 

 and it furnishes the trees during the first summer with 

 a great number of shoots. 



2. The short pinching of the regular shoots ought 

 to be commenced as soon as possible, that is, when the 

 shoots have attained a suitable length. This must be 

 followed up without interruption as shoots continue to 

 lengthen. If this be delayed or be repeated too seldom, 

 there will be too many shoots pinched at one time, 

 which would stop vegetation in all parts of the tree, 

 gum disease will set in, the fruit fall off, and, it may 

 be, the tree will perish. These accidents, which make 

 some persons condemn short pinching altogether, may 

 be avoided by pinching soon enough and successively, 

 in the course of fifteen or twenty days, so that the 

 vegetation pursues its proper course unchecked from 

 the first to the last pinchings. 



Such is the mode of performing the new method of 

 treating the fruit-branches of peach trees. By follow- 

 ing it intelligently we obtain at once the valuable 

 results we have pointed out, and which induce us to 

 persevere in the new method. 



