Fruit-buds 



233 



Fig. 75. Peach-buds forming with three leaves. 

 The central bud is a leaf-bud. 



their fruit only from canes that grew the preceding year. 



The tree-fruits may bear on the preceding year's axial 



growth or on short 



spurs. Most of them 



bear both ways, but 



the larger part of the 



fruitage of apples, 



pears, plums, cherries, 



apricots, is on spurs. 



Peaches bear pro- 

 fusely on the last 



year's axial or straight 



shoots, but they also 



bear on short-lived 



spurs. Figs. 71 to 76 



show fruit-bearing in 



apple and peach. 



In the northern states, the best time for pruning, in 



general, is late winter and very early spring. It is best not 



to prune when the wood is 

 -;L-^ frozen hard, although there is 

 no physiological injury to a 

 OICT^ dormant tree thereby. The 

 wounds should be made close 

 to the branch or trunk, and no 

 stubs should be left. Large 

 wounds — of 2 to 3 inches and 

 above — may be painted or 

 waxed for protection. Well- 

 mixed paint of white lead and 

 raw hnseed oil (colored, if one 

 desires), applied after the 

 wounds are well dried out, is 



Fig. 76. A short branch or 



- - P® 



is probably a leaf-bud. 



