584 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



[Jan. 



grown to a good size in large pots, so as to come immediately 

 into bearing, and to be so trained as to fill the upper part of 

 the house or wall, while the permanent ones are filling the 

 lower parts. 



FORCING PEACHES. 



Peaches are frequently begun to be forced in December and 

 January, and become ripe in May. Little is gained by com- 

 mencing sooner. But for a general crop, most gardeners pre- 

 fer to begin by the first of February ; and for this purpose, 

 they begin to prepare the house during the month of January, 

 supposing the trees to be healthy and fully established, and 

 that they have not been pruned in November or December, 

 when the vines were pruned. About the beginning of the 

 month, let the flues be properly cleaned, and such repairs as 

 may be necessary done to the house, the whole of them washed 

 v.ith water, and afterwards the walls and flues whitewashed 

 with hot lime, to give the whole a neat and clean appearance. 



Supposing the trees to be established, and their wood of 

 moderate growth, neither luxuriantly strong nor yet too weak, 

 they will of course be sufficiently ripened, having been forced 

 the preceding year. If the shoots have been laid in a proper 

 distance, and in a regular manner, during their summer train- 

 ing, they wall require but little pruning at this time. First go 

 over the whole of the trees, and examine what wood is worn 

 out or nearly so, and if there be enough of young wood to fill 

 up such spaces, then remove all or part of such branches as 

 are exhausted. This should be done annually, so that it will 

 not be requisite to cut out too much at once, as no tree is so 

 impatient of severe pruning as the peach. Such shoots as 

 are thus laid in to fill up the space occupied by the branches 

 removed, should be shortened in, more or less, according to 

 their strength, and the size of the space to be filled up. in 

 order to cause them to break in such parts, and to push such 

 a number of shoots as will fill the space intended as soon as 

 possible. The summer shoots should be gone over, and a few 

 of such as are near the bottom or middle of the tree shortened, 

 or where there is a deficiency of proper wood, to cause a growth 

 of young wood to supply any vacancies that may hereafter 



