On the Peach. 601 



sends out lateral shoots on all sides ; these are laid in, at three 

 bricks' depth apart, horizontally, and are encouraged as much 

 as possible by stopping the upright leader, and again stopping 

 the laterals it may send out, in order to throw sap into the 

 horizontal branches, which are allowed to run 9 ft. on each 

 side of the trunk, supposing the wall 12 ft. high. Two shoots 

 on each side may be got the first year, and three or more after, 

 according to the luxuriance of the tree; always establishing 

 every horizontal shoot well before the upright leader is allowed 

 to make head ; and no fruit must be allowed to remain on the 

 lower two or three tiers of wood the first two years, unless 

 they are over-luxuriant. As the tree advances it must be 

 carefully disbudded, in order to leave young wood in proper 

 places. 



But the principal feature in the culture of the peach tree is, 

 to stop the leaders of the bearing wood, at four or five eyes 

 beyond the parent bud, thereby throwing the sap into the fruit, 

 and also into the latent eyes at the base of the one-year-old 

 wood, which must break if you allow no other buds to remain 

 without being stopped as soon as they protrude ; and, as is well 

 known by every one the least acquainted with the habits of this 

 tree, it invariably produces wood buds at the beginning and 

 ending of every one-year's shoot. All laterals from the green 

 wood, at the extremities of the present fruiting-branches, must 

 be carefully stopped at one or two leaves from the parent. 



In winter pruning, the young wood may be left entire, or cut 

 at a wood bud to any desirable length, according to the luxuri- 

 ance of the tree. 



This system, being notoriously simple and regular, will be 

 understood at a glance by every one. The trees can be 

 pruned and trained in one third less time than when trained 

 fan-shape ; as there is little consideration wanted as to what 

 must be left or cut out ; and only one place, that is, by the 

 seams of the bricks, where every shoot must be nailed. Every 

 tree will be definite in size, and handsome in figure, forming a 

 parallelogram, whose length is to its breadth as three to two ; 

 and every foot of the wall will be alike advantageously em- 

 ployed. They will also stand in harmonious relationship to each 

 other ; and to the ends and corners of walls, &c. ; not as now, 

 threatening to cross each other, and actually crossing every 

 thing else with which they are connected. But the greatest 

 advantage remains to be told, and that is, that the present 

 necessary and ruinous practice of amputating large limbs 

 annually, in order to get bearing wood near the bole of the 

 tree, will be entirely done away with ; as the only winter 

 pruning now will be, to cut out the wood that bore the fruit, 

 as is practised with raspberries. 

 Vol. XV. — No. 116. ss 



