VI. TRAINING AND PRUNING. 



the stone-fruits, and, of these, mostly to the peach- 

 tree. 



234. Eighth : The fruit-buds, particularly of stone- 

 fruits, to form and bring to maturity their fruit, should 

 be accompanied by shoot-buds, which draw the sap 

 towards them. Every fruit-branch which has not these 

 dries up and dies without bearing. It often happens that 

 the severity of the winter destroys the shoot-buds which 

 are coming alongside the fruit-buds - } and those who 

 prune before this can be discovered, stand the chance of 

 leaving fruit-branches without wood- buds, and conse- 

 quently, of seeing these dry up and die as soon as they 

 have flowered. Every fruit-branch which has, at its ex- 

 tremity, nothing but a wood-bud, should be shortened 

 unless you wish to preserve it for a wood-branch ; but 

 do this only in the last extremity, because it will always 

 remain sterile below. 



235. Between the stone-fruits and the pip-fruits, there 

 is a great deal of difference in the manner of bearing. 

 The latter bear on little branches of from two to three 

 inches long, called spurs. These are two or three years 

 in forming, and they generally come upon other small 

 branches. The first year, a spur has three leaves, 

 the second, five, and the third, seven. The stone-fruits, 

 as the peach for instance, bear their fruit on branches 

 of one year's growth, which should, therefore,be shorten- 

 ed at every winter pruning. The fruit-buds of these 

 last are easily recognised. They are round and ruddy, 

 and garnished with a cotton envelope $ whereas the 

 Wood-buds are, on the contrary, long and of a green colour. 



M2 



