HOME PROPAGATION OF PEACH TREES 



1541 



kill. It is necessary then to examine a 

 good many buds on the different varieties 

 to make sure whether or not enough buds 

 are left uninjured to produce a crop of 

 fruit. Almost every winter some one re- 

 ports that the peach buds are all killed 

 because he found upon examination that 

 some of the buds were dead. One should 

 guard against assuming that the peach 

 crop is ruined because he finds that the 

 first few buds he opens are dead. It is 

 necessary to thoroughly examine a num- 

 ber of trees of all the different varieties. 

 If, however, one finds that the fruit buds 

 are killed, it is well to seize upon 

 the opportunity to cut back the trees 

 somewhat more severely than usual. 

 If the trees are getting tall and straggly 

 they may be shortened back somewhat 

 and thus gotten into a more manageable 

 form. The amount to cut back depends 

 upon the shape of the tree and whether 

 it is high or low. If the tree has been 

 well pruned every winter and is compact 

 and low it may be best to cut so as to 

 leave short spurs of the new wood. If the 

 trees have never been pruned, or if they 

 are getting long and stragling, and if the 

 new growth is short and weak they will 

 make stronger growth and a better crop 

 of fruit buds for the next season if they 

 are cut back somewhat severely. In such 

 cases the main limbs may be cut back 

 into two, three or sometimes into four- 

 year-old wood. One should, however, be 

 careful not to cut back into wood that is 

 so old and dormant that it will not form 

 new branches the following summer. If 

 the bark looks bright and smooth it will 

 generally put out new limbs. If it looks 

 dull colored and rough the wood at this 

 point may be too old to make new growth. 

 Usually the limbs may be cut back to 

 some vigorous side branch, a spur of 

 which may be allowed to terminate the 

 limb, just below the cut. Where the trees 

 are cut back thus severely the small, 

 weak twigs along the trunk of thfe tree 

 and on the bases of the shortened limbs 

 should be cut off close to the point of at- 

 tachment. 



Of all our orchard trees the peach 

 stands in greatest need of regular prun- 



ing. Not only should peach tiees be 

 pruned every winter but they should be 

 cut back more severely than any other of 

 our fruit trees. In order to understand 

 the full import of this statement it will 

 be necessary to keep in mind the habit 

 of growth of the peach as compared with 

 some of our other fruit trees. The fruit 

 buds of the apple and pear are mostly 

 borne on old, short spurs, attached to the 

 older limbs. These fruit spurs of the ap- 

 ple and pear lengthen but little each year. 

 The fruit then is mostly borne in the body 

 of the tree instead of on the new growth 

 at the extremities of the branches. On 

 the contrary, the fruit buds of the peach 

 are borne chiefly on the long whips of new 

 growth which is most abundant at the ex- 

 tremities of the limbs. In order to se- 

 cure an abundant crop of peaches it is 

 necessary to so treat the trees as to se- 

 cure an abundant new-wood growth the 

 year before the peach crop is expected. 

 Let us see what this treatment consists of. 



If the peach tree is allowed to go un- 

 pruned it will make comparatively vig- 

 orous wood growth while it is young, and 

 will produce a few good crops of fruit. 

 The new-wood growth is mainly produced 

 at the extremities of the wood which grew 

 the previous year. Every year then, the 

 new wood, containing the fruit buds, is 

 farther and farther removed from the 

 main trunk of the tree. Wood growth be- 

 comes weaker and weaker each year. The 

 twigs in the interior of the tree begin to 

 die, leaving long, straggling main limbs, 

 which are bare of fruiting wood except at 

 their extremities. These fruiting twigs 

 are weak and so far removed from the 

 trunk of the tree that the limbs are li- 

 able to break down if a crop of fruit is 

 produced. Furthermore, these long, bare 

 limbs and the unshaded trunk of the tree 

 are liable to injury from sun scald. Gath- 

 ering the fruit from these high limbs is 

 expensive, and such fruit as may be pro- 

 duced on such weak growth is of inferior 

 quality. 



The object of pruning is to avoid the 

 undesirable form of unpruned trees just 

 described. In place of long, straggling 

 limbs it is desirable to secure low, com- 



