THE PEACH AND NECTARINE UNDER GLASS. 



109 



Extension Training. — Assuming that the trees 

 with which a set of Peach-houses was planted in the 

 autumn are the best the nurseryman could supply, 

 that they contain ten or twelve shoots each as in 

 Fig. 8, and the extension fan system of training, 

 which is the best, has been decided upon ; if all the 

 shoots are equally strong, four on each side may be 

 laid in the full length, the first or lowest pair nearly 

 horizontal, the others radiating from the centre ; but 

 if any are unusually strong, they must be shortened 

 back to a good bud, to preserve the even balance of 

 the tree. When we come to the two shoots nearest 

 the centre, and therefore nearly vertical, shortening 



with the leader being sufficient to form the first 

 year's shoots. These must be regularly tied in from 

 four to six inches apart, and allowed to grow to the 

 fullest extent, at least so long as there is no sign of 

 any of them being left behind. Should this be the 

 case, the points of the most vigorous leaders must 

 be pinched where it is deemed necessary to maintain 

 the proper balance of every part of the tree. If 

 this is not done the leaders near the centre are apt 



to get too strong 

 at the expense of 

 the side shoots, 

 which are less 

 likely to receive a 

 fair share of the 

 sap when it has 

 forced its way 

 into these vertical 

 channels; but by 

 pinching the ex- 

 treme points of 



Fig. 11.— Extension Training. 



Fig. 12.— Wood-buds 

 at a a. 



Fig. 13.— Wood-buds 

 and Flower-buds. 



back to one-half their length, say at a a (Fig. 8), will 

 induce all the back buds to break, from which a suffi- 

 cient number of shoots can be selected to form the 

 centre of the future tree. When this moderate 

 pruning has been completed and the shoots have been 

 neatly tied to the vires, daily syringing will soon 

 cause every bud to throw out a shoot ; but as not 

 more than one-tenth of them will be required, dis- 

 budding, when they get about two inches in length, 

 must be gradually proceeded with. The back and 

 fore-right shoots should be taken away with a sharp 

 knife. Then after an interval of a day or two all 

 the breaks on the lower sides should be reduced to 

 three, and when it is seen which of the growths on 

 the upper sides are well placed and likely to take the 

 lead, two of the best should be retained, one near the 

 base, and another nearly midway, all the others being- 

 taken away. As growth under glass will be rapid, 

 these in a few days will again require thinning by 

 the removal or pinching of the growths from the 

 lower sides, the lateral growths on the upper sides 



these leaders, laterals and sub-laterals can be obtained 

 and laid in so as to form a very large tree by the end 

 of the season. 



When the wood is ripe it will be found that 

 an evenly -balanced tree, from eight to ten feet 

 across the breast, capable of bearing several dozens 

 of fruit, is again ready for the winter pruning, 

 if the entire removal of a superfluous shoot can be 

 called pruning. No shortening back will be needed, 

 but each terminal bud must be again allowed to break 

 and push its way to the extremity of the space which 

 it is allotted to fill ; disbudding must also be attended 

 to, and great care must be observed in performing 

 this with a liberal hand, as over-crowding is one of 

 the worst evils the extension trainer has to guard 

 against. When the trees have filled the trellis, the 

 annual removal of the shoots from which the fruit 

 has been gathered is extremely simple, as each of 

 these will have a young growth that originated near 

 the base (as in Fig. 1 1 ) ready to take its place. The 

 best time to do this is immediately after the last fruit 



