THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK I57 



to the orchard. The most common practice is to cut the young tree back 

 to a whip and then shorten-in the whip. New branches spring freely from 

 this bare stub but these do not always come where they are wanted and 

 often the new wood comes only from the stock. These objections to 

 pruning to a whip have brought about a modification in which the branches 

 are cut back to stubs of two or three buds. In a series of experiments 

 now in progress on the Station grounds it seems certain that the second 

 method is better than the first. 



Two forms of top are open to choice — the vase-form, or open- 

 centered tree, and the globe-form, or close-centered tree. In the first the 

 framework of the tree consists of a short trunk, surmounted by four or 

 five main branches ascending obliquely. In the second the trunk is con- 

 tinued above the branches, forming the center of the tree, and, later being 

 headed in, a globe-like head is formed. In New York the vase-form is 

 nearly always chosen. In neither case is the task difficult since the peach 

 springs almost at once into tree-form with a full complement of branches. 

 Beginning with the second year the main branches are shortened back 

 from one-third to one-half their growth, if heading back seem necessary, 

 cutting to upper and inner buds so that the oblique ascending vase-form 

 is maintained. The pruning of the third season is much the same, except 

 that some of the interior branches should be removed to open up the 

 heads to air and sunshine. The third season's pruning is repeated from 

 year to year, having in mind that the slow-growing, hardy, productive 

 sorts can be pruned much more severely than the free-growing, tender 

 kinds. Open forks are a serious menace and are carefully avoided to 

 lessen the danger of splitting when branches are heavily laden. About 

 the most common mistake is that of cutting out too much wood, thereby 

 inducing so heavy a growth in the parts that remain that winter-killing 

 takes place ; at best it makes necessary continued heavy pruning for several 

 seasons to keep the trees in manageable size and shape. 



Heading-in as described in the foregoing paragraphs is necessary 

 because the peach bears the bulk of its crop high up on its branches, which 

 are often broken by the weight so that after a bountifiil harvest the orchard 

 looks as if a cyclone had swept through it. As the limbs lengthen, too, 

 it becomes increasingly difficult to pick the peaches. Even with annual 

 heading-in the bearing wood eventually gets too far from the ground and 

 the grower may have to resort to decapitating the trees — an operation 

 commonly known by the inapt term " dehorning." When old trees are 



