232 FRUIT AND ITS CULTIVATION. 



Summer Pruning. This is practised on dwarf trees 

 worked on dwarfing stocks ; also on trees grown on walls 

 which it is desired to encourage to become and continue as 

 fruitful as possible. It ought never to be practised on 

 standards, because, owing to their extensive root action, 

 they require all the growth possible to assimilate the food 

 collected by the latter. It would only encourage them 

 to become producers of wood rather than fruit. A stan- 

 dard tree, once it has arrived at its bearing stage, natu- 

 rally develops fruit buds on its previous season's growth, 

 as anyone may see by examining the shoots on the tree. 



Summer pruning the shoots results, it is true, in the 

 loss of a certain amount of food to the tree, because the 

 young shoots at first are drawing their chief sustenance 

 from the reserve food stored previously in the cells, and 

 the parts removed have not had an opportunity of re- 

 plenishing the store from the food manufactured later on 

 by themselves. But, as the object of summer pruning is 

 not to encourage the too extensive formation of shoots 

 and wood buds, but rather plenty of fruit buds, this slight 

 weakening of the tree is an advantage ; it checks exces- 

 siveness in growth. Instead, therefore, of getting very 

 vigorous shoots, we get short, sturdy ones, which mature 

 more thoroughly, and are consequently more likely to 

 develop fruit buds at their base. 



As a general rule, summer pruning is best done in July 

 or early August. If done earlier the force of the ascend- 

 ing sap may encourage secondary shoots to develop, and 

 so prevent the food present in the cells concentrating its 

 energies upon fattening the basal buds to become fruiting 

 ones. You then pinch off the slibot to the fourth leaf; 

 and, if all goes well, the food in the leaves will, before 

 they fall, return to the cells of the buds the special food 

 they require to form embryo blossoms. This pruning 

 not only checks exuberant growth, but it also admits more 

 sunshine and air to the parts remaining, and these ripen 

 more thoroughly. (Figs. 95 to 99J 



