Pruning Young Trees 109 



By the end of the third season the form of the peach 

 tree should be well established, and from now on the 

 pruning will be less severe. Many growers, however, 

 still remove most of the fruiting-wood the following spring. 

 The top should be cut back quite severely, but possibly 

 more small wood left in the body of the tree than has ever 

 been left before. In this and all subsequent prunings 

 the pruner should encourage the growth of fruiting-wood 

 well down in the head of the tree. While the head should 

 be kept fairly open, this does not mean that fruit cannot 

 be grown in the center of the tree. Some go to the 

 extreme in growing a head with no central limbs; such a 

 practice is simply a waste of space, necessitating an in- 

 crease in the height of tree to secure the required bearing 

 area. 



The fourth spring the peach tree will need considerable 

 thinning-out and some cutting-back. The idea should 

 be to thin the fruit by cutting out the fruiting wood, 

 with such other pruning as will encourage the spreading 

 of the tree and keep the fruiting area near the ground. 

 The tree is coming to a point now where it is impossible 

 to lay down any definite rules for pruning, and the grower 

 will have to depend largely on his own judgment; and 

 judgment comes only from experience and close observa- 

 tion. With four years' growth in the orchard, the tree 

 is practically mature, and subsequent pruning will be 

 discussed in general in Chapter VIII. 



The story of the two trees, as told by the drawings 

 taken from actual photographs (Figs. 27 to 31 inclusive), 

 should serve to guide the pruner in pruning his young 

 peach orchard. The owner of the first will soon be pick- 



