THE PEACH AND NECTARINE. 



591 



inclined upwards. Taking these branches for his guide, he altered his mode 

 of training, and, by turning up the extremities of the branches, so as to give 

 all an equal inclination and equal curvature, convex towards the horizontal 

 line of the earth, he was enabled to maintain all parts of the tree in equal 

 vigour. This mode of training, which he adopted about 1800, has continued 

 to be his practice ever since, and under it the trees have grown to a large size, 

 and have continued in a full state of health to a considerable age. By the 

 adoption of this very simple and natural system of training, Mr. Glendinning, 

 who adopted it extensively at Bicton in 1832, observes, various inexplicable 

 failures will be avoided ; such as premature decay, an unequal quantity of 

 young wood in the centre of the tree, and the constant and grievous calamity 

 of losing the entire under limbs, which completely disfigures the tree for ever. 

 Hay ward s mode of training is founded on the same principle as Mr. Callow's, 

 viz. that the sap will always flow in the greatest quantity to the most vertical 

 buds. 



1301. Shortening the young wood of the peach. — This is practised by all 

 the different modes of training that are or ever have been used in Britain. 

 The effect of shortening the shoots of the peach is not merely to throw more 

 sap into the fruit, but to add vigour to the tree generally, by increasing the 

 power of the roots relatively to the branches. The peach being a short- 

 lived tree, it has been justly remarked by Mr. Thompson, were it allowed 

 to expend all the power of its accumulated sap every year, it would soon 

 exhaust itself, and die of old age ; as the standard peach trees do in a few 

 years in the unpruned American orchards, and in those of Italy, and as the 

 almond does in the neighbourhood of Lyons and Vienna. No tree is so apt, 

 as the peach, to produce over-luxuriant shoots, technically water-shoots, or 

 gourmands. These may alwaj'S be known by the extraordinary vigour of 

 their commencement, which is almost always from latent buds after the 

 regular buds of the tree have been developed. These buds ought to be 

 rubbed off immediately, and as fast as they appear, in order to throw the sap 

 which would have been wasted by them into the other parts of the tree ; or 

 if the entire tree is too strong, the shoots may be left to grow, care being 

 taken to disleaf them (772) as fast as they advance, in order that no new 

 sap may be generated. Besides these over-luxuriant shoots, others will arise 

 not suitably situated ; as when they come on the main stem, or on the fronts 

 of the branches, technically fore-right shoots ; all of which ought to be 

 rubbed off, retaining only such as are required to bear fruit the following 

 year ; such as may be wanted to supply the place of a branch which has 

 been or is to be cut out ; such as may be wanted for propagation, and such 

 as are terminal, unless the tree has attained its utmost limits when the ter- 

 minal shoots may be stopped at two or three joints. What is called the 

 summer pruning of peach trees, commences as early in spring as the leaf- 

 buds can be distinguished from the blossom-buds, when all that are not 

 wanted of either should be rubbed off ; and it continues till the fall of the 

 leaf, immediately after which the winter pruning may be performed, but 

 should not be deferred later than February. In winter pruning the rule, as 

 in all similar cases, is to cut to a leaf-bud, and as this sometimes is situated 

 between twin blossom-buds, care must be taken not to injure the latter, as 

 it is in such situations that the fruit is produced with least expense of sap 

 to the tree ; the branch attracting sap to the fruit from the root, and also 

 returning sap to it from the leaves. When there is only one blossom- 



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