304 NECTARINES. 



being broken by the wind ; that is, let the middle of 

 the branch run in be on the outside of the shoot you 

 wish to preserve, and the ends tucked under the two 

 adjoining branches. After the fall of the leaf it will 

 be necessary to take out these loose branches, which 

 will give the shoots more liberty, and admit the sun 

 and air to ripen the wood before the spring pruning" 

 FORSYTH, Ed. 3. p. 49. 



Yet this practice, it appears, has been pursued in His 

 Majesty's Gardens at Kensington, and is set forth in 

 Mr. Forsyth's Book, I imagine, as a model of excel- 

 lence. 



There can, indeed, be little doubt of the excellence 

 of such a system, since it possesses the peculiar advan- 

 tage over all other systems, of causing the wood to 

 ripen during the depth of winter, by the admission of 

 sun and air. 



Now, with all due respect for this authority, I would 

 suggest, in contra-distinction to such a practice, that 

 from the first time of nailing in the summer, the shoots 

 should not be suffered to grow more than six inches 

 before they are nailed again, and thus followed up so 

 long as they continue to extend themselves. 



In this way, I apprehend, the shoots will be as secure 

 from a violent gale of wind, as those under the tuck 

 system ; and that they will be fuil as likely to ripen 

 during the summer and autumn, whilst we have sun, 

 as in the depth of winter when we have none. ^ 



In having given such directions for the pruning and 

 training of Peaches and Nectarines as I have myself 

 been taught and practised, and satisfied myself with, it 

 remains only for me to recommend that the trees should 

 not be overloaded with fruit, but that the crop be 

 regulated by a judicious mode of thinning. 



In the thinning of Peaches and Nectarines, and in- 

 deed any other drupaceous fruit, it is necessary to pro- 



