192 



mUIT TREES. 



the following summer the branch which has been cut 

 at A, in order to make it develop all its buds, including 

 those at the base, has transformed each of them into 

 shoots more or less vigorous as they are nearer the 

 extremity of the branch or further from it. Those at 

 the lower part B only develop very minute shoots ; 

 those at 0, growing about the middle, attain a length 

 of from two to four and a half inches ; lastly, those at 

 D will perhaps grow to from eight to twenty inches in 

 length. These last, with the exception of the terminal 

 shoot, are pinched off when they have attained a length 

 of four inches, in order to transform them into fruit- 

 branches and to favour the extension of the terminal 

 shoot. We suppress besides all the double and treble 

 shoots, preserving the most feeble or most vigorous, 

 according as it is desired to obtain fruit-branches or an 

 extension of the branch. 



Second Year. — ^At the spring which follows, this" 

 branch presents the aspect of figure 167. The very 

 small branches at the base B support a group of flower- 

 buds, in the centre of which is a wood-bud which will 

 form the extension of this small fruit-branch. These 

 small branches must remain untouched. Others that 

 are larger, 0, and which bear flower-buds about the 

 middle part, and wood-buds at the top, must be cut 

 back. Those at D that are too long and too vigorous 

 must be shortened by complete or partial fracture, as 

 they are more or less vigorous, in the manner we have 

 explained for the pear trees. These cuttings are neces- 

 sary in order to obtain new branches towards the base, 

 for it must not be forgotten that the fruit-branches of 



