152 



FRUIT TREES. 



up, or fastening, must be done progressiyely (not all at 

 once, as is too often done), in order to keep the different 

 shoots of an equal vigour. 



Second Year. — The operations of the summer are 

 intended to transform the shoots into branches, like 

 those we shall now describe. 



The shoots growing below the side branches, near 

 their spring, often remain nothing more than very- 

 short branches, bearing scarcely anything except blos- 

 soms, and a wood-bud at the end (fig. 129). These 

 minute fruit-branches do not require pruning ; the fruit 

 which grows upon them is the best which the tree pro- 

 duces. 



Some other shoots, rather longer, but growing also 

 in unfavourable situations, have become branches of 

 from six to eight inches in length, covered with flower- 

 buds, except towards the base, where may be seen two 

 or three wood-buds (fig. 130) ; these are the fruit- 

 branches proper. They must be cut back, in order to 

 obtain a new well-placed fruit-bearing branch for the 

 next year ; but some of the flower-buds must be re- 

 served, to insure fructification. 



In order to prove, by an example, the absolute neces- 

 sity of cutting back these fruit-branches every year, we 

 will suppose that the branch a (fig. 130) has been left 

 unpruned : it will bear fruit the first year, and then 

 put forth at the top one or two shoots, which will be- 

 come branches the following spring, and upon which 

 only will appear flower-buds, for, as we have observed, 

 the fruit-branches of the peach bear only once. This 

 ramification will present in the following spring the ap- 



