56 Management of the Peach Tree. 



gardener at Wortley, succeeded well with what I consider a 

 bad system of pruning, by shortening his shoots severely ; 

 but his garden lay extremely exposed to the winds which are 

 beneficial in moderating the luxuriance of growth of plants, and 

 such situations are not as liable to chilly damps and blights as 

 low and more sheltered places. I hope Mr. Harrison will feel 

 no uneasiness at this disapproval of his system of pruning this 

 kind of fruit trees, as he merits so much praise as an ingenious 

 gardener. I have for many years past pruned my trees in a 

 manner that has offered me uniform success ; it is simply by 

 diminishing the vigour of the shoots ; in summer I shorten 

 back to a few eyes a considerable portion of the young spray, 

 and I retain these in the spring dressing to afford the future 

 crop. The man who has cultivated the peach tree for some 

 time must have observed that the branches which have 

 lost their leading buds never fail to set their fruit well, and 

 often for a long time continue to swell such fruit faster than 

 branches that are crowned with luxuriant leading shoots. 

 This may be accounted for by the ascending sap being carried 

 forward by the luxuriant growth above, and thus depriving or 

 carrying away from the fruit its natural juice ; they then wither 

 and fall off. As my borders are not manured, nor made deep, 

 the trees therefore never create unwholesome or too much sap ; 

 and without much artificial aid produce the kind of wood I 

 require ; my crops, in consequence are uniformly good, and 

 the fruit large and well flavoured. As I live near London, I 

 never find it necessary to cover my trees in spring, when in 

 blossom. The flowers of well ripened wood, such as my plants 

 produce, are more hardy than those of more spongy growths. 

 Insects will be always found to do more harm in this part of 

 the kingdom than bad weather. In exceedingly early seasons it 

 may be necessary to cover the trees, and old netting, discarded 

 by fishermen, is the best protection, and this can be bought 

 for 21. per cwt., and will last many years. It is a sure mark 

 of a bad cultivator to see the borders cropped with potatoes 

 and other gross vegetables, though it may be good, in con- 

 formity with nature, to shade the ground with a slight crop, 

 such as weak-growing flowers, small herbs, or mignonette. 

 Much of what you have stated respecting the Dutch forcing 

 at Hylands is in unison with my practice ; the trees there 

 being frequently removed are never luxuriant, but produce 

 the kind of wood already described. I have seen that garden, 

 and am, perhaps, from the extent of my practice, a more effi- 

 cient judge than youself. From what I noticed at that place, 

 I would recommend to the British gardener a structure some- 

 thing between the Dutch frame and the English forcing-house, 



