THE PEACH AND NECTARINE. 



503 



pomological writers of the day as indicative of 

 the true condition of the action of the root. 

 " If they (that is, the embryo fruit) are many 

 days struggling to get free of the decaying 

 blossom, it is a sure symptom of a sluggish action 

 of the root ; on the contrary, fine fresh trees in 

 their prime will soon enable their progeny to 

 escape." 



This sentence is worth the attention of the 

 cultivator ; it will indicate to him sooner than 

 the after state of the foliage whether all is 

 right at the roots or not. When the fruit has 

 arrived at this stage, less ventilation must be 

 given, and consequently less artificial heat also. 

 But these changes in ventilation and tempera- 

 ture must not be effected suddenly, but pro- 

 gressively. All sudden changes, in regard to 

 stone-fruits in particular, are dangerous. Let the 

 temperature now be maintained at from 55° to 

 60° during the day, and from 45° to 50° during 

 the night. We speak now of artificial heat. 

 The sun-heat through the day may rise not 

 only with impunity, but with advantage, to 

 75° ; but it should always be borne in mind 

 that there is a vast difference in connection 

 with vegetable life between the heat produced 

 by fire and that produced by the sun. Also 

 let it be kept in view, that with this increase 

 of sun-heat, ventilation must bear a relative 

 proportion. At this stage of the fruit's exist- 

 ence moisture must be increased, not at the 

 roots, but over the tree and its young leaves — 

 first to refresh and nourish them, and also to 

 keep down the appearance of both thrip and 

 red-spider, the bane of peach trees, and often 

 confounded together. The existence of both 

 may be traced to a high temperature, unaccom- 

 panied with a due share of humidity. Syringe 

 freely after this state; it frees the tree of the 

 decaying remnants of its blossom, keeps the 

 surface of the foliage clean and fit for the 

 necessary operations of respiration, and greatly 

 tends to prevent the appearance of the two 

 enemies just named. In regard to syringing, 

 little and often ought to be the rule. In bright 

 sunny weather, syringe morning and evening 

 only. In dull cloudy weather it may be done 

 throughout the day, but of course more spar- 

 ingly. After the fruit has fairly set, the trying 

 season of peach-forcing may be said to be over, 

 as all that follows is judicious thinning the 

 fruit, stimulating what is left by all legitimate 

 means ; and in this respect nothing tends more 

 to the health of the tree and swelling of the 

 fruit than a proper adjustment in the quantity 

 of young wood that is to be left, and the first 

 step in this direction is judicious disbudding. 

 This is a species of pruning differing from most 

 other kinds, because it very early removes the 

 superfluous or ill-placed shoots that would 

 otherwise rob the tree and fruit also of a very 

 large portion of their energies, if left to assume 

 their full size, or even a portion of that size, 

 and have to be removed afterwards, carrying 

 with them the whole material of which they 

 are composed to the dunghill, instead of being 

 retained in the tree. A neglect of disbudding 

 in time is like winking at petty thefts until the 

 culprit is at last convicted of open highway 



robbery. Besides a neglect of timeous dis- 

 budding, another serious evil is likely to arise 

 at this period, and that is founded upon the 

 rules laid down by the older writers, who 

 advise copious and severe syringing to take 

 place at this time, to clear the trees of the 

 decayed blossoms, to suppress insects, and to 

 do many other kind offices to the foliage, with- 

 out thinking that nearly the whole of the water 

 so applied falls to the ground and saturates the 

 soil — reducing by this means the soil- in the 

 interior to the condition of an open border, 

 subject to the heavy rains that fall from the 

 heavens in the wettest localities, causing not 

 only many of the fruit to drop, but inducing 

 a condition in the trees whereby they put 

 forth strong watery shoots devoid of flower- 

 buds, and produced only for the apparent 

 purpose of being cut out and cast away. Dis- 

 budding is an imperfect operation, and scien- 

 tifically it might be carried into effect, both 

 as regards blossom and wood -buds, before 

 either had developed themselves. Practical 

 experience has not fully recognised this doctrine, 

 and waits until the young shoots have attained 

 the length of 2 inches, when the operation 

 commences, and is carried on progressively 

 until the tree is disburdened of its superfluous 

 wood, and left in a condition to perfect that 

 which is left. The process of disbudding should 

 be carried on progressively during four or five 

 weeks, taking a little off at a time, and going 

 over the trees frequently. For this very im- 

 portant operation no definite rules can be laid 

 down, as so much depends on the state of the 

 trees, whether they are young and full of vigour, 

 or old, and arrived at a state of forming fruit- 

 buds more abundantly than wood-buds. Dur- 

 ing the process of disbudding, two different 

 kinds or forms of shoots will be observed — the 

 one strong robust shoots, which in general 

 spring from towards the centre of the tree, and 

 often, from emanating from the centre or 

 strongest bud of a group, proceed in an out- 

 ward direction instead Of a lateral one, and 

 hence, even if required to be laid in in arrang- 

 ing the form of the tree, liable to be broken 

 in consequence of want of flexibility. These 

 strong or watery shoots, for the most part, are 

 to be removed, reserving only such of them as 

 may be required for filling up any vacant space 

 in the centre of the tree. The other wood to 

 which we have referred is of moderate, and 

 often even of slender growth, but it is the wood 

 destined to produce the flower-buds for another 

 season. This should be moderate in growth, 

 not drawn out to a great length, and very short- 

 jointed — that is, thickly set with buds. Defi- 

 ciency in ventilation, too high a temperature, 

 and want of attention to disbudding, all tend 

 to cause this unnecessary elongation. A con- 

 trary course tends to the formation of short,, 

 stout, well-formed shoots, abounding with bold 

 and well-swelled buds. 



The period of stoning is considered a precarious 

 time with all stone-fruit. If all be not right at the 

 roots, if sudden changes of temperature or ineffi- 

 cient ventilation be allowed to exist, then many 

 of the fruit will fall off. The former of these evils 



