PRUNING FRUIT TREES. 
275 
disposed to form fruit spurs, whilst the leading shoots and those 
required for extension will have had an extra amount of sap 
thrown into them, and will consequently be strong, clean, and 
vigorous. An alternative method is to allow the side growths to 
become somewhat firm, and about the end of June to break them 
half through at four leaves from the base, leaving the broken 
shoots hanging down ; a check is thus given to the shoots, which 
causes the remaining buds to swell, but the broken shoots will 
still take a certain amount of sap, and thus form a safety valve, 
which prevents the lower buds from bursting into growth. This 
method of treatment almost always produces bloom buds, but it 
is not so frequently adopted as it might be, on account of the 
broken shoots looking somewhat untidy in gardens. 
In the subsequent autumn or winter pruning of the side 
shoots leave always on young and vigorous trees three buds ; 
on old trees two will suffice. The reason for leaving three 
buds is that one or two, generally two, must make growth, while 
we want the lowest one to remain nearly dormant and just put 
out a leaf or two so as to develop into a fruit bud next year. The 
mode of summer pruning one often sees practised is very different 
to that here described. It consists in allowing the side shoots to 
grow freely until July, and then cutting them hard back to two 
buds. The result is that the shoots are far thicker and stronger 
than they should be, and consequently more liable to make strong 
wood next season. The tree receives a great check from the 
removal of so much foliage, and finally the buds left are almost 
certain to break out into growth the sm?ie season. Close pruning 
like this quickly transforms a tree into a dense thicket of shoots 
impervious to sun or air, and totally unfitted for bearing fruit. 
I have not unfrequently seen lines of pyramid fruit-trees pruned 
so as to look like sugar cones, into which it would be next to 
impossible to insert one's hand ; and indeed, unless one were 
birds'-nesting, there would be no necessity to do so, for it is quite 
certain that fruit could not be produced there. I would repeat 
that close pruning is responsible for more failures in garden 
fruit culture than all other causes put together, and I blame the 
method of close summer pruning, because the trees are thus sub- 
jected to two close prunings a year instead of one, and thus 
become thickets in about half the time. The excuse made for 
