272 



PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING 



Summer pruning is an insurance against sun scald on the frame 

 limbs; for the shoots that spring from the upper sides of the main 

 branches not only shade them but draw into their supporting tissues 

 a constant flow of sap, thus keeping them in vigorous health. 



Because the peach tends to form a densely leafy head, 

 care in pruning should be exercised to keep the head fairly 

 open so sun and air may ha\e free access to the center. 

 This end may be attained perhaps most easily by extend- 

 ing the diameter of the head rather than increasing the 



FIG. 234— FOURTEEN-YEAR GREENSBORO SUMMER-PRUNED IMMEDIATELY 

 AFTER HARVEST LAST YEAR 



height. Most growers strive to have the frame limbs 

 form as nearly an angle of 90 degrees with each other as 

 possible and to spread the top so that the height will be 

 about half the width (Fig. 224). By proper attention to 

 pruning, cultivation, feeding, spraying and especially 

 borer control, peach trees may be made to continue 

 profitable far beyond the usually allotted half score of 

 years. The author has visited orchards ^^0 years old and 

 older that still bear profitable crops simply because of 

 adequate attention. 



