490 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



flow of sap to the buds on that portion of the shoot left, and these, in 

 consequence, will start developing. This development may take one of 

 two directions : it may proceed only sufficiently far to nourish the dormant 

 buds and convert them into future fruit buds, or it may proceed far enough 

 to force the buds into growth. The latter effect is, of course, the reverse 

 of what is desired, since it will result in the formation of numerous 

 small shoots, which will not have time to ripen, and which will have 

 to be cut away in the following autumn. 



Whether summer pruning will bring about the desirable or the 

 undesirable result would appear to depend on so many circumstances 

 that any general statement on the matter, or the prediction of the event, 

 would seem to be an impossibility ; and this would account for the 

 diversity of opinion which is held on the subject. Clearly the vigour 

 with which a tree is growing at the time will determine whether the buds 

 at the base of the shoots will be forced into activity or not, and the 

 vigour of growth depends on many things : on the variety of the tree 

 dealt with, the nature of its root-stock, and the age and character of the 

 individual tree ; also on the position and sturdiness of the branch pruned, 

 the extent to which the pruning has been carried, and the time at which 

 the pruning has been done, as well as on the condition as to moisture of 

 the soil in which the tree is grooving, and the character of the weather 

 following the operation. This last circumstance, above all others, would 

 appear to render the results of summer pruning uncertain, even in the 

 hands of the most skilful. 



It would seem that the summer pruning of any shoots which are 

 growing vigorously should be avoided, if the object in view is the 

 formation of fruit buds ; and the operation, therefore, should be confined 

 to the weaker shoots, which will generally be side shoots. Such pruning 

 is more appropriately termed summer pinching ; and, as it is desirable to 

 have the fruit spurs as near the base of the shoots as possible, it seems 

 clear that the pinching should be close, leaving not more than three or 

 four buds on the shoot ; for it is only the buds nearest to the cut which 

 appear to be affected by the pruning. To avoid starting the basal buds 

 into growth, the pinching should evidently be done late in the season, 

 though the actual time at which it will be most successful must vary 

 very much with the character of the trees, and of that of the season in 

 question. 



In the experiments which have recently been started at Woburn the 

 influence of the date of summer pruning is being investigated on a 

 number of different varieties of apples and pears, the dates selected 

 ranging from the middle of July to the beginning of September. In 

 the few experiments which have been in progress there since 1894 the 

 summer pruning has been done in August, and the general results 

 obtained are entirely negative in character, neither the size of the trees 

 nor the weight of the crops showing any appreciable difference when 

 compared with similar trees which have been subjected to moderate 

 autumn pruning only (loc. cit.). In 1906, however, the crops from the 

 summer-pruned plots were very much below the average, but only one 

 of the three varieties under investigation (Bramley) fruited that year. 

 Although the present size of the summer-pruned and winter-pruned trees 



