PRUNING THE DIFFERENT TREE FRUITS 



247 



The Peach 



The fruit of the peach is borne on the previous season's 

 growth, or one-year wood. Usually this bearing wood consists 

 of terminal and lateral shoots which are produced over the 

 outer surface of the tree, but occasionally these shoots or 

 twigs are quite short, especially if the trees lack vigor. Such 

 growths are often called spurs, although they are not the 

 same as the spurs of the apple and pear. 



The sooner a tree of large proportions can be grown, the 

 sooner it will come into profitable bearing. It can thus be 

 seen that the less pruning that can be done consistent with 

 forming a strong well-shaped tree, the better. 



(a) At Transplanting Time the Young Trees Should Be 

 Headed Back. Well-matured trees of medium to large size 

 are desirable for planting. The usual practice in most sec- 

 tions is to cut back these "whips," leaving them from 18 to 22 

 inches high. This allows for a low-headed tree and still leaves 

 room for working the soil and combating borers. If no buds 

 or limbs are present below this height, then the trees should 

 be headed higher. If the buds below this region have grown 

 out into weak branches in the nursery, these branches should 

 be cut back to stubs of one bud. New limbs will grow either 

 from dormant buds at the base of these stubs or from the 

 buds left on the stubs. If the tree as it comes from the 

 nursery has numerous strong, well-matured, and well-spaced 

 branches — ^which is not usual — these can be thinned out, three 

 or four being left and shortened back moderately. 



A promising method of pruning after transplanting is in- 

 dicated later in this section. 



(6) After the First Season's Growth the Main Framework 

 Branches Should Be Selected, During the first season's 

 growth, several buds will grow out into branches. The follow- 

 ing spring three or four of these branches spaced as far apart as 

 possible and spirally about the trunk should be selected to 

 form the head of the tree. The remaining branches should 



