PEACH AND THE PEAR. 47 



appointing and unsatisfactory, for a time, at least. If 

 cold weather catches you in planting, stop and 

 "heel-in" the trees until spring. 



Whether the trees have been planted in the autumn 

 or in the spring, they should be headed back in the 

 spring and trimmed up, ready for the start. Cut ofT the 

 top to three, or three and a half feet, or cut it off to two 

 feet, as you want your tree to head high or low. I 

 prefer about three feet to three feet and a half, as such 

 an orchard will be easier to get about in. Cut off all 

 lateral branches, and your work is finished as far as the 

 tree itself is concerned. It is the custom on the 

 peninsula to work the young orchard in corn for the first 

 two or three years. Two years are enough ; the third year 

 won't pay and is bad for the trees ; besides, there may be 

 a crop of fruit the third year, although this is not desir- 

 able for the trees ; but life is short and it helps the pocket, 

 and we don't often pull them off prematurely for the 

 good of the trees. Others prefer to work young trees in 

 low crops, as tomatoes, etc., thinking that the trees do 

 better. I don't know that it makes much difference. I 

 would suggest raspberries as a crop in small orchards. 



PRUNING. 



As stated above, the tree should be pruned of its top 

 and all branches, the first spring, and the top should be 

 cut off to within three to three and a half feet of the 



