156 FRUIT CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 



fruit last summer, and those shown by the dotted lines, 

 growing from the bases of the fruit-bearing wood, are 

 those laid in in summer to bear the following season. 

 In pruning such a tree, the last year's wood, shown by 

 the solid Lines, is cut off close to the young wood 

 which is to supply the next year's crop. 



Some make a practice of cutting back the young 

 bearing wood to two -thirds its length. I do not 

 advocate this indiscriminately. Where the shoots are 

 long and not well ripened, and the buds consequently 

 weak, they should be shortened back to where the 

 wood is firm, and always to a strong wood - bud. 

 Peach-trees in a healthy condition have their buds 

 in clusters of three — a wood-bud in the centre, and a 

 fruit-bud on each side of it ; and to such a cluster of 

 buds they should always be cut when cut at all. 



Well-established trees that have borne heavy crops 

 regularly, and especially those that have been forced 

 early, generally make shorter and stronger growths, 

 well studded with strong clusters of buds. In this 

 case it is unadvisable to shorten them back at all. A 

 watchful eye must always be kept on the lower por- 

 tion of the tree, so that it is not allowed to get bare 

 of young fruit-bearing growths. It need scarcely be 

 said that, from the fact that it is the young wood that 

 bears, the tendency is for it to be in greatest abun- 

 dance at the top. 



The best guarantee against trees becoming bare of 

 young bearing wood at their lowest parts, is to annu- 

 ally cut back a few healthy young growths to 2 or 3 

 eyes, and allow as many of these to bud and grow as 

 may be required to keep up the supply of young wood. 

 This is an indispensable necessity, from the fact that 

 portions of old wood have annually to be removed 



