256 PRUNING. 



would be a long, vacant space, entirely destitute of a 

 young shoot or a living bud. This is the way that 

 the interior and lower parts of trees soon become de- 

 garnished. 



But when that shoot is shortened, we will say one half, 

 the sap IS retained in its lower parts, one half of the fruit 

 buds are removed, and the consequence is that large and 

 fine fruits are obtained from those remaining ; vigorous 

 young shoots are produced from the lower buds to bear 

 next year, and take the place of those which have already 

 borne. In this way regular uniform crops of large and 

 fine fruit are obtained, and a constant succession of young 

 slioots is kept up. 



To Form the Head of a Standard Peach Tree. — We 

 will suppose it the intention to form a standard tree, with 

 a trunk two feet in hight, and a round, open, and sym- 

 metrical head. We take a yearling tree and cut it back 

 to within two feet and a half of the ground in the spring. 

 Below this cut, a certam number of shoots will be pro- 

 duced, from which three Avill be selected to form the main 

 branches or framework of the head. All the others are 

 rubbed off when two or three inches long, or sooner. At 

 the end of the season we have a tree with three branches. 



The second year these three branches are cut back full 

 one-half their length, and from each we take a shoot to 

 continue the branch, and one to form a secondary branch. 

 The other shoots produced below these are pinched or 

 checked, to prevent them from interfering with the growth 

 of the leading branches. In the fall of the year we have 

 a tree with six leading branches, and some bearing shoots 

 below on the older wood. 



The third year each of these six branches is shortened 

 one-half, in order to obtain more secondary branches, and 

 some fruit branches on the lower parts. All young shoots 

 on the old wood, whether fruit branches or not, should be 

 cut back one-half, or as far as n:iay be necessary, to cause 



