302 NECTARINES. 



by pruning alone, and a judicious distribution of its 

 young wood. 



Commencing with the winter pruning, the first rule 

 to be laid down as a basis for all the rest, is to shorten 

 every shoot in proportion to its strength, and to prune 

 to where the wood is firm and well ripened : this will 

 cause all the pithy and unripened wood to be removed, 

 thence causing a supply of that which is better ripened 

 for the ensuing year. But in order to give every facility 

 to the ripening of this wood, it must be trained thin, 

 not in profusion according to the general custom, but 

 such shoots only as may be required for the following 

 year. 



Trees which have arrived at a bearing state should 

 have their strongest bearing shoots shortened to twelve 

 or fourteen inches, those next in strength to eight or 

 ten, and the weaker ones to four or six inches, pruning 

 each to what is termed a treble eye, or that where there 

 is a blossom bud on each side of wood bud : where 

 branches are not in a bearing state, these treble eyes will 

 not be found ; they must therefore be pruned'to a wood 

 bud alone, which is always known by its sharp point. 



When the tree has been pruned once in this manner, 

 the shoots must be trained neatly, nearly parallel to each 

 other, so that a line continued in that direction would 

 lead itself clearly out to the extremity of the tree. 



In May, the season for disbudding the tree, all fore- 

 right shoots, as well as those from the back, must^be 

 carefully removed with a sharp small bladed knife, 

 taking care to cut close to the branch, but not into the 

 bark : a few, however, of these foreright shoots had 

 better be cut within a quarter of an inch only, which 

 will leave two or three leaves to each, to shade the 

 young fruit, and such slight wounds in the branch as 

 have been occasioned by cutting the shoots off close. 



As soon as the young shoots have grown long enough, 



