174 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



they are cut off close to the origin of the succes- 

 sion shoots d and e. These succession shoots, 

 like their predecessors, are shortened at the 

 winter-pruning, in order that, whilst they bear 

 fruit in the ensuing season, they may also pro- 

 duce, in their turn, shoots for succession. In 

 general, every bearing shoot throughout the 

 tree should have a young shoot for succession, 

 and the nearer the young shoot springs from 

 the base of the bearing shoot the better. It 

 may be encouraged from the side of the bearing 

 shoot next the branch, as at e, or from the 

 opposite side, as at d. This should be arranged 

 when disbudding, so as to prevent the shoot 

 from getting too far away from the main branch. 

 If at any time a bud starts closer to the branch 

 than where d and e originated, it should be 

 encouraged, and the stub, which results from 

 repeatedly shortening back to near the base of 

 the bearing shoots, can then be reduced. In 

 fact, wherever there is an opportunity of obtain- 

 ing a succession shoot from the old branch, it 

 should not be neglected, provided there is room 

 for such young shoot. 



Fig. 977 represents a branch with two shoots, 

 one of which, b, is intended for succession, and 



Fig. 977.— Peach. Pruning for Succession Shout. 



is pruned at e, whilst the shoot a is stopped at 

 c, and at the next pruning is cut off at (/. A 

 number of other succession shoots may be 

 allowed to grow to the length of 10 inches or 

 1 foot, and then be stopped. Several summer 

 laterals will result; but they will push mostly 

 just below where the shoot was stopped; whilst, 

 lower down, enough of flower-buds will in most 

 instances be formed. By these means the 

 amount of foliage will be much less than would 

 otherwise be the case. 



Fig. 978 represents a branch with two shoots, 

 one of which is pruned at a, whilst the other 

 is cut close to the base at c, thus leaving the 

 leaf-bud b to form a succession shoot. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that the 

 Peach must have a number of principal branches 

 to constitute what may be termed the frame- 

 work of the tree, and also subsidiary ones to 



fill up as the others diverge; the rest consists 

 of bearing shoots, and from or near the bases 

 of these, succession ones. These should all be 

 managed according to the general principle 

 above explained, that is, the bearing shoot is 



Fig. 978.— Peach. Pruning. 



shortened, more or less, at the winter-pruning. 

 This has the effect of inducing shoots to push 

 from the buds on the part left, and the lowest 

 of these shoots is to be selected to form a 

 succession; for the bearing shoot, unless it be 

 the leading shoot of a branch, must be cut 

 away at the winter - pruning. From this it 

 appears that the pruning and training of the 

 Peach-tree, when it is once formed, is reduced 

 to three very simple proceedings: — 



1. Shortening the intended bearing shoot at 

 the winter-pruning, if the tree is growing out- 

 side. For all indoor culture this shortening 

 is rarely required, as the shoots get w T ell ripened 

 and may be laid in full length. 



2. Training a succession one in summer. 



3. The removal of the shoots that have borne 

 fruit, except such of them as are leading shoots 

 of branches. 



The length to which the bearing shoots 

 ought to be shortened depends on their vigour, 

 and occasionally the position of leaf -buds; for 

 in order to cut immediately above one of them, 

 the shoot may have to be cut much shorter, 

 or left at greater length than would otherwise 

 be advisable. 



The distance along the branches, from one 

 bearing shoot to the other, may be 12 or 14 

 inches. On a branch that is weaker than it 

 ought to be, more succession shoots should be 

 encouraged than on the adjoining stronger ones, 

 and more space should be allowed them, by 

 training those from the stronger branch in a 

 limited space; but all young branches of the 

 previous year's growth, when trained in at the 

 spring-pruning, should have a clear space be- 

 tween them of not less than 4 inches. 



Stopjring or Pinching. — This is in many respects 

 the same as disbudding, and is practised during 

 vegetation. Its object is to rectify any neglect 

 which has been made with regard to the tree, 



