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JOUKNAIi OP HOETICULTDSJS AND COrrAO-K GARDBNEE. 



[ April 25, 1865. 



delight in deeply wrougbt soil, with plenty of leaf mould or 

 well rotted dung, and a rather moist soil is better for them 

 than one di-y and gravelly. 



Clumps of Pampas Grass, edged with Tritoma grandis, 

 would be very striking in suitable positions. The flowers of 

 the one would show off the other with great eilect, and they 

 both flower at the same season, and delight in very much 

 the same sort of soil. The outline of such a clump would be 



devoid of that which may be termed dumpiness, and on that 

 account would not be so liL-ely to offend the eyo of those 

 who have set their hearts against all formally filled clumps 

 in any position whatever. However, I am sure Tritoma 

 grandis will give satisfaction to all who ai-e required to cut 

 flowers by the basketful after the middle of October, and 

 will well repay any extra attention devoted to it. — D. Thom- 

 son. — {Scottish Gardener.) 



THE MO-DEEN PEACH-PRUNEE. No. 8. 



"* Hakdlt any matter is of such importance, in Peach-prun- 

 ing as a right knowledge of the distinctive characters of the 

 shoots. 'I'hat they differ widely is certain, therefore any 

 instruction on this point must 

 be founded on some common 

 principles before it can be of 

 real value. Even the prac- 

 tised pruner is instinctively 

 guided by certain well esta- 

 blished rules in his selection 

 or rejection of the coming 

 season's wood, but these rules 

 axe the result of longer ex- 

 perience than usually hap- 

 pens to the amateur. The 

 almost entire absence of any 

 classification of Peach shoots 

 in the works of the older 

 writers was an essential defect, 

 and rendered much of their 

 excellent teaching practically 

 useless. Possibly this was 

 owing, in a great measure, to 

 the paucity of illustrations 

 common in those days, for 

 without such invaluable aids 

 it seems simply impossible 

 even now to attempt any pro- 

 fitable instruction. 



Modern practice, indeed, by 

 a species of reaction, has 

 rather erred on the side of 

 copious illustration joined to 

 minute derail ; but the result 

 has been good, the amateur 

 has largely profited thereby, 

 and this alone would have 

 amply justified the new me- 

 thod. 



There is, then, no classifi- 

 cation of Peach shoots of any 

 value till we take up Professor 

 Dubreuil's late work uu the 

 general subject of fruit cul- 

 ture. Taking, then, this high 

 authority for our basis, we 

 can the more readily approach 

 this interesting portion of our 

 subject. 



Under M. Dubreuil's system Fig. 1. 



all shoots are divided into six 



distinct clasBes. After careful consideration this number 

 has been extended to eight, and the whole has been re- 

 arranged in two divisions. The first four classes aro mainly 

 found in long pruning, while the remaining four, tliough 

 occurring also in that system, are principally to bo found in 

 oloae-prnning, and especially in all orchard-house work. 

 This division is also convenient for reference. Kvory type 

 of shoot which occurs in ordinary cases will bo found ranged 

 under one or other division. To show the unaccountable 

 neglect into which this matter had fallen, it will bo enough 

 to mention that new names have been given to several of 

 the cloiiacs, which, though well known to pruners, had no 

 recognised nomenclature. These names have been added 

 under the sanction of the best authority, while the shoots 

 themselves have been carefully drawn from nature by prac- 

 tised hands. They possesft the additional value of being 



now engraved for the first time of the natural dimensions, by 



which means they can be much more readily distinguished. 



1st division of peach shoots. 



I. The Wood Shoot. — Mg.l, 

 is the wood shoot of the purest 

 type; rameau li bois, of Du- 

 breuil. 'i his is a vigorous class, 

 and indicates either a very 

 eai'ly stage of development, or, 

 if found in the case of older 

 trees, rather a superfluous 

 amount of sap. It is depicted 

 with the leaf-buds just elon- 

 gating under the influence of 

 the continuous movement of 

 the ascending sap, exercising 

 an almost mechanical pressure 

 at their axils. Under the 

 powerful influences of light 

 and heat, in a short time each 

 of these buds will become a 

 green shoot provided with 

 leaves, which, elaborating the 

 sap, will speedily augment the 

 dimensions of the whole, both 

 in length and in breadth. This 

 class of shoots is common on 

 young and growing trees. 

 When it occurs as an exten- 

 sion, it is far better to en- 

 deavour, by judicious summer- 

 stopping of the buds A, A, A, as 

 they lengthen into shoots, to 

 make them fruit- bearing, and 

 then little or no shortoning-in 

 of the extension will be needed 

 at the winter pruning. The 

 tree will thus gain much. A 

 contrary practice will end in 

 producing other wood shoots 

 of No. 1 class, ai'ising from 

 the buds A, A, A. Whenever 

 this unfortunate circumstance 

 occurs, then these wood shoots 

 should be cut very short back 

 to try for fruit again. Of 

 course, it is not supposed that 

 this class of shoot should be 

 laid-iu for bearing purposes 

 Fig. 2. at the winter pruning. It is 



naturally a long slioot, and has 

 occasionally some feeble blossom-buds near its extremity, 

 which are valueless. At the lowest A (at the junction of the 

 ono and two-year-old wood), we perceive a wood-bud, which 

 will probably become a 8hort,fruit-boaring spur. 



2. Thk Frpit Shoot. Kameau d fruit proprement dil, 

 Dubreuil. — fig. 2, is a type of the ordinary fruit-bearing 

 shoot. This shoot is a good specimen of the long-pruning 

 stylo. Tho blossom-buds at u. n, u, aro all double, and havo 

 a leuf-bud between them. Sometimes Hioy occur as a single 

 blossom-bud and a single loaf-bud. This formation is easy 

 to manage and is variously treated. Sometimes the shoot 

 is laid-in at full length, a roprehonsiblo practice except in 

 the case of exhausted trees where leaves primipally aro 

 wanted, and soraetiuies, being cut back to about K) inches, 

 it is partially disbudded, which seems a waste of material. 

 This class, however, will bear much ill-treatment, chiefly 



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