THE PRUNING OF FRUIT TREES 59 



strong bud just above the point from which the highest 

 branch proceeds. The effect of this system of pruning is 

 to produce a tree consisting of a central main stem and of 

 a series of tiers of branches proceeding from it, leaving 

 no bare spaces from top to bottom. There will also be 

 no crossing of boughs, no interlacing network of twigs, 

 no hopeless tangle into which sun and air cannot pene- 

 trate, and the sap will have been induced to produce 

 numerous fruit spurs along all its branches. If this 

 method of pruning be regularly practised there will be 

 little to do in the way of autumn or winter branch 

 pruning. The advice just given as to pruning applies 

 generally to standard and bush trees of Apples, Pears, 

 Plums, and Cherries. There are, however, a few excep- 

 tions. In the case of the Apples known as Irish Peach 

 and Beauty of Bath the terminal shoots of the main 

 stem and the branches should be left untouched. The 

 branchlets, however, should be treated as before advised. 

 Once they have become established standard fruit trees 

 require little pruning beyond keeping the centre of the 

 tree open, and removing branches that cross each other. 

 In all cases it should be remembered that the branches 

 must be left so far apart that there is room for air and 

 sunshine freely to pass throughout the tree. Peaches 

 and Nectarines bear fruit principally on the young wood, 

 and therefore summer pruning, as above described, would 

 be altogether harmful in their case. The aims in pruning 

 these trees, therefore, are to remove overlapping branches 

 and to keep the proportion of new to old wood as great 

 as possible. 



Black Currants bear principally on young wood, and 

 therefore old wood which has already borne should be 

 pruned away hard — a considerable portion of it every 

 year. In this way a succession of fresh shoots may be 

 kept up year after year. Gooseberries should be pruned 

 principally with a view of keeping the bush open, so that 



