Pruning the Peach 185 



three to five side branches that are distributed some inches 

 apart up and down the stem of the tree. Unless these 

 branches are distributed several inches apart they are lia- 

 ble to make a fork that will be easily split, and as this style 

 of pruning makes trees that are more or less weak in the 

 fork, all possible care needs to be observed in getting the 

 crown as strong as possible. 



Subsequent pruning will be for the purpose of maintain- 

 ing the shape of the tree, thinning the fruiting wood, pro- 

 moting wood growth, promoting fruitfulness, removing 

 unnecessary or injured parts and facilitating harvesting 

 and spraying. 



No formal rules can be laid down as to how an apple 

 tree should be pruned after it has passed its second year 

 in the orchard, as it depends to a large extent upon the 

 variety, the locality, the age and climate. It needs to be 

 borne in mind, however, that summer pruning tends to fruit- 

 fulness, while winter pruning tends to the production of 

 wood growth, and in the Western states where trees have 

 the tendency to overbear, winter pruning is by far more im- 

 portant than summer pruning. 



The tops of the trees need to be pruned every year. 

 If it is not done they soon become a mass of tangled 

 branches, many of which are long and slender, and when 

 heavily laden with fruit are easily broken down. When 

 cutting off a branch or twig, make the cut close to a 

 lateral branch, so as to not leave a stub. The sap in 

 passing up the branch will be directed into the lateral, and 

 in its downward course it will close over the wound made 

 close to a lateral branch, whereas if a stub is left the heal- 

 ing callus cannot close over it. 



Pruning the Peach 



The peach is a fruit that responds very quickly to the 

 amount of pruning done upon the trees, and in a commer- 

 cial orchard pruning is one of the most important opera- 

 tions. Thorough pruning tends toward regular fruitfulness. 

 It influences the size of the crop, and the size of the fruit, 



