54 THE MODERN PEACH PRUNER. 



them. Sometimes they occur as a single blossom- 

 bud, and a single leaf-bud. This formation is easy 

 to manage, and is variously treated. Sometimes 

 the shoot is laid-in at full length, a reprehensible 

 practice, except in the case of exhausted trees 

 where leaves principally are wanted ; and some- 

 times, being cut back to about 10 inches, it is 

 partially disbudded, which seems a waste of ma- 

 terial. This class, however, will bear much ill- 

 treatment, chiefly because it can hardly be cut-in 

 wrongly, as there is a leaf-bud present with each 

 group of blossom-buds. 



3. The Mixed Shoot {fig. 3), Rameau mixte, 

 Dubreuil. — This class partakes of the characters 

 of Nos. 1 and 2, having the leaf-buds of the former 

 (only frequently doubled) for some way up, and 

 then changing into the fruit-bearing groups 

 peculiar to No. 2. It indicates a stronger growth 

 than class No. 2, and is probably due to a vertical 

 position at the upper side of some branch, or an 

 extension of some bush tree. Perhaps a cold wet 

 spring, abruptly succeeded by bright sun, has 

 altered its character, and caused blossom-buds to 

 be produced high up the shoot. These changes 

 are, however, subject to laws not yet well ex- 

 plained. This class requires careful summer 

 handling, and is more difficult to prune than 

 No. 2. At the winter season, if it present the 



