112 



third. Shoots of middling vigour reduce one-third 

 or one-half ; and prune the very weak to two or three 

 buds. Always cut at a shoot-bud to advance for a 

 leader. Sometimes a shoot-bud lies between a twin 

 blossom-bud ; cut half an inch above the bud . As 

 many new shoots as will lie from three to six inches 

 asunder may be deemed a competent supply : remove 

 or reduce some part of the former bearers. Cut out 

 quite close the redundant, irregular, and other impro- 

 per shoots : remove or reduce some parts of the for- 

 mer bearers of the two preceding years, cutting the 

 most naked quite away, and others down to the most 

 eligible young branch or well-placed shoot. Also 

 take out all diseased and dead wood, retaining young 

 where necessary to fill a vacuity. (Johnson's Diet, 

 Mod. Gardening.) 



Sheltering the blossom is an essential practice to 

 secure a crop of peaches ; for, at the time the blos- 

 som is opening in April and May, there invariably 

 occur easterly winds and night frosts, which always 

 prove fatal if the blossoms are exposed to them with- 

 out shelter. 



All cooling is occasioned either by the heat being 

 conducted from a body by a colder, which is in con- 

 tact with it, or by radiating from the body cooled, 

 though circumstances accelerate or retard the radia- 

 tion ; and whatever checks the radiation of heat from 

 a body is a screen, and keeps it warmer. For exam- 



