140 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
that all pruning of the peach should be done while growth is absolutely dor- 
mant. This plan makes large stocky bodies and strong limbs and crotches, 
enabling the tree to carry heavy crops of fruit without supports of any kind,, 
and without injury to the limbs. 
When a crop of fruit is established on a tree, I plan to allow the peaches 
to grow not nearer than six to eight inches apart and this thinning must 
be done before the pits begin to harden. There are two periods in which a 
peach tree gets a perceptible .check in its growth. The first is the blooming 
period, and the second is the pit-forming period, and from this fact it is evi- 
dent that the bloom should be reduced to a minimum by early severe prun- 
ing in years when there is an abundance of live buds and this should be fol- 
lowed by a thorough thinning of the fruit before the pit-forming period. By 
following this course trees go into winter strong and full of vitality and 
capable of wintering live buds and sound wood, while trees that are not 
controlled in this manner fail. 
SYSTEM. 
It is very important that all operations be systematized, using only the best 
implements, and putting up and marketing the fruit in the best possible 
manner. 
The results of the above outlined plan of peach culture have been highly 
satisfactory. Since my first orchard was two years old it has never failed 
to give a fair to heavy crop of fruit annually, and my oldest trees, now ten 
years old, after bearing eight successive crops, are increasing in vigor and 
fruiting capacity and bid fair to furnish as many more full crops. 
As for the financial returns I will only say that the peach is my most profit- 
able crop, always selling above what is known as the top of the market. 
THE VALUE OF NURSERY INSPECTION. 
BY PROF. F. M. WEBSTER, OHIO AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, 
WOOSTER, OHIO. 
Nursery inspection is purely an American innovation. Lately, other nations 
are coming to adopt this method of controlling the diffusion of insects and 
fungus pests, by placing nurseries under a system of surveillance, which, if 
faithfully carried out, by those whose duty it is to make the examination, 
and the owners of the premises, can but result in universal benefit to the 
nurseryman and the fruit grower. 
The nearer that a certificate of inspection comes to meaning exactly what 
it represents to mean, the better it will be for all parties concerned. If it 
does not fulfil this requirement, then it is of no reputable value to any one, 
and represents a sad misuse of both labor and money. If, however, the in- 
spection has been made with reasonable care, and the nurseyman does not 
permit the use of the certificate issued on stock that has not been in- 
spected, then the document will materially add to the value of the stock upon 
which it is placed. It will mean what it represents to mean, viz.: that one 
whose business it is to recognize certain things, has examined the premises on 
which the stock Avas grown, and found no indication of the presence of these 
things. 
