PRUNING MATURE TREES 273 



One of the commonest errors in peach pruning is to 

 get rid of too much interior growth. This may be either 

 because of over-shading by growths higher up or by poor 

 judgment in cutting. Nothing but careful and vigorous 

 pruning in the top will maintain bearing wood in the 

 lower parts of the trees; and yet care must be exercised 

 to prevent having too open a top. Plenty of fruiting 

 wood must be there also. While central bearing twigs 

 usually are not as sturdy as exterior ones, yet the fruit 

 borne there is less likely to be blown off. It may also be 

 of fully as good quality on properly handled trees. 



Often an old peach orchard may be rejuvenated. Per- 

 haps the best time to undertake the work is during a sea- 

 son when frost has ruined the crop. The earlier the woi"k 

 can be done in the spring the better so that plenty of 

 fruit buds may be formed for the following season's crop. 

 When there are young growths low down on the limbs 

 and the trunk, the top may be cut back severely, the cuts 

 l>cing preferably close to points where good but smaller 

 limbs are already growing well. "Dehorning" is an ex- 

 aggeration of this cutting back. In it practically all the 

 top is removed except a few feet of the frame and second- 

 ary limbs. Figure 31 shows a tree that was so treated 

 four years before the picture was taken. It bore a partial 

 crop the second year after being dehorned and a good 

 crop the following and the fourth years. 



