102 
PRUNING A PEACH TREE. 
/?., Pennsylvania .—I have a young peach 
orchard, two years old, and would like to 
know how to prune them; how much they 
ought to be cut hack and what time of the 
year is the best. People who have seen them 
think they have made an unusually large 
growth. 
I realize it is a hard matter to advise 
how to prune peach trees you have never 
seen. If the trees are on strong, rich land 
and are not cut back, the tops will prob¬ 
ably be too large in proportion to the 
roots; hence would cut back one-third of 
new growth, but do no inside pruning, for 
my experience tells me that is where the 
fruit is at three years old. I would prune 
any time from now on. A. E. R. 
Sussex Co., N. J. 
A method that has given good results 
in my orchard is to cut back one-quarter 
to one-third of new growth, and thin out 
the middle of the tree, using judgment in 
the matter of thinning the center. I find 
that by cutting back one-half or such a 
matter that a dense center growth is en¬ 
couraged, which unless severely pruned, 
causes too much shade, and peaches which 
are deprived of sunlight lose flavor. Trees 
treated as above and properly cared for 
in other ways, bring their fruit to full 
maturity, and ripen evenly. I always trim 
in Spring. S. R. walker. 
Massachusetts. 
The only rule to follow in pruning a 
peach orchard should be, to keep the tree 
as low-headed as possible; to keep all 
growth from the inside of the tree, as that 
growth is away from the light and sun, 
and therefore weak and unable to bear 
good fruit. My advice to your corre¬ 
spondent would be to cut out all the weak 
limbs and twigs from the inside of the 
tree, so as to admit the sun, and allow a 
free circulation of air through the tree. 
Cut back to one foot all the top or up¬ 
right growth of last year, thus keeping 
the tree from growing too tall, and en¬ 
abling it to carry heavier loads of fruit 
without breaking down, and to resist dam¬ 
age by wind, and allowing the fruit to be 
gathered with less trouble and expense. 
New Jersey. E. s. black. 
After a peach tree has reached the bear¬ 
ing age, my rule is to prune with the ob¬ 
ject of raising all of the fruit the tree is 
capable of maturing perfectly. The life of 
a peach tree is too short and its crop too 
uncertain to prune it for fancy, future, or 
any other effect. This rule necessitates 
pruning late in the Spring, after the great¬ 
est danger of killing by frost is past, and 
also at a time when the number of live 
buds can be more easily and surely esti¬ 
mated. If at that time the tree has an 
overabundance of good buds, prune with 
the three-fold object of shortening in, dis¬ 
tributing the fruit, and thinning it. If 
there are but few live buds prune lightly 
or not at all, but pinch in in Summer and 
take chances on pruning back the next 
Spring. If, then, there should be a total 
failure of good buds, cut back the young 
trees very heavily, especially the leaders, 
as it is not at all profitable to raise fishing 
poles on peach trees. If the trees are past 
middle age, cut back to mere stubs. My 
experience teaches me that the peach, to 
do its best, requires heavy pruning. It not 
only produces a greater quantity and a 
better quality of bearing wood, but a very 
much better quality of fruit. 
j. w. trinkle. 
I have yet to meet a man who has pro¬ 
tested more vigorously against abuses or 
who has answered my questions more in¬ 
telligently than a peach tree will. Peach 
trees have told me more about peach cul¬ 
ture than men have, and I have always 
felt quite repaid for my acquaintance with 
my peach orchards when I kept myself 
fully up to the high standards they de¬ 
manded. All two-year-old peach orchards, 
planted for profit, should be cut back as 
nearly as possible one-half, and never less 
than a third of the growth of the previous 
year. I make one-half the standard, and 
if I happen to go a little beyond that I 
do not worry about it. I prune the 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 10, 
branches that are from one-half to an inch 
thick first, and I 'walk around the trees 
as 1 do it, so I may see the effect of the 
cut on the tree as a whole; then I take 
off the parts of smaller branches and any 
main stubs which yet extend too far be¬ 
yond the general outline of the tree, and 
the job is done. I do not remove any of 
the twigs, spurs and small branches that 
grow from the bodies of the larger 
branches even down to the trunk of the 
tree; this would be as unnecessary as it 
would be to sandpaper a railroad tie, in 
the first place; besides, it is injurious to 
the tree. Even such as die are not re¬ 
moved, for what harm could they do? I 
want all these little twigs to shade the 
heavy branches and to bear fruit. I cut 
the main branch, as nearly as possible to 
where a branch starts from it, and when 
I can cut to where two start, I do so, 
even if I have to make the main stem a 
trifle shorter. I am now ready to leave 
this tree for the next one, and as I take 
the last look at it I can easily see the out¬ 
line of the rough stubbed main branches, 
forming the framework, and another out¬ 
line of the small branches' running from 
the thickness of a lead pencil to seven- 
sixteenths of an inch in thickness, and all 
extending from a foot to two feet beyond 
the main branches which have just been 
cut off. 
I cut the main stems short and to a 
branch, to prevent sprouting; to stop then- 
growth, to keep the top where I can see 
into it; to conserve the energies of the 
tree, and to have the roots send it into 
every twig on the tree. I want the root 
to have time to work leisurely, and rather 
to push the whole top, than to have the top 
ever drawing upon the root and holding 
it up to the extent of its capacity. I want 
to stop this “trust” principle; the main 
branches get the nourishment into their 
channels, and they keep it there, the little 
twigs down the tree, and the smaller 
branches, all of which should be bearing 
the finest of fruit, bear but little, of a very 
inferior quality at that, and then they die. 
'I he fine fruit is always at the ends of the 
larger branches, as the great dividends go 
with the trusts, but when we curb these 
branches and give the little fellows the 
chance they need every one of them gets 
sun and air; there are 75 per cent more 
bearing tips, and little branches out there 
in the sun where that single long branch 
was, and as many more chances to bear 
good fruit! The leverage on the union 
of the main branch with the tree is re¬ 
duced, and the branch will not break; 
besides your picking may be done standing- 
on the ground; you get more sun-kissed 
fruit and better fruit; the wind does not 
blow off as much; you can thin them, and 
you will have your orchard longer be¬ 
cause of these very things. This is the 
most economical way to prune, and it con¬ 
sequently reduces the expense. I do it in 
March, after the hard freezes are over, 
so I can cut off all frozen wood, and so 
the cuts will heal over thoroughly. 
Pennsylvania. earl peters. 
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Do know Green?— 
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NEW 
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