186 



The Principles of Fruit-growing 



tree, trimmed in this way, ready for planting. This method 

 is the one usually best adapted to the peach, which is 

 always set when one season old from the bud; but for 

 other fruits unless the trees are slender and without good 

 branchy tops, it is doubtful whether it is the best prac- 

 tice. If the bodies are thought not to be stiff enough, this 

 way of trimming may be used to good advantage. The 

 main shoot should usually be headed 

 back in this as in all styles of trim- 

 ming, to make the trunk stocky. 



The second method aims to start 

 the top at the required height when the 

 tree is planted. It is adapted only to 

 strong and well-grown stocks that 

 have a more or less branching and 

 forking top. From three to five of the 

 best branches are left, and these are 

 headed back to a few buds each. Fig. 

 33 shows a pear tree, trimmed in Fig. 

 34, and the illustration may be con- 

 sidered to represent a good example 

 of its class. 



It is, of course, evident that there 

 is no one method of pruning young 

 trees that is all wrong, nor any other 

 that is all right. The method must 

 always be modified by the age and 

 shape of the trees, by the climate (or 

 part of the country) in which the 

 plantation is set, by the species of 

 plants, and especially by the standard 

 that the grower has set for himself. 

 ^"'- ^^peJr''tr' eT"""'** In general, it may be said that the 



