Pruning Mature Trees 



129 



early in the spring, leaving the clipping-back and thinning 

 until later, some waiting until all danger of frost is past. 

 The pruner should constantly keep before him an ideal 

 form for the peach tree; the well-grown young orchard at 

 the mercy of a careless pruner may become ungainly and 



FIG. 42. Peach Tree, Nine Years Old, well Trained. Note how nearly 

 it conforms to a Right Angle. 



unproductive at the age of 10 years. Effort should be 

 made to keep the fruit as near the ground as possible, 

 as most of the fruit on a seven-year-old tree should be 

 reached from the ground, and in no peach orchard should 

 the picker need a ladder longer than six feet. (See Fig. 

 41.) The depth of the fruiting area of the peach tree 



