1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
107 
She fjorticultttral pepartnmit. 
CONDUCTED BY J. J. THOMAS, 
Pruning the Peach. 
Although we have nothing new to offer at the pre¬ 
sent time on this subject, yet as the time is approach¬ 
ing for attention to the necessary work, we would 
remind our readers briefly of some of the principal 
points and advantages. 
The peach, of all our fruit trees, is remarkable 
for its sensitiveness to shade. The leaves and bran¬ 
ches positively refuse to grow, unless they can feel 
Pig. 1. 
the sun-light. Hence, as the tree advances in size, 
the shoots in the central parts of the head, dwindle, 
die, and drop off, leaving the more central portions 
of large heads, with long naked limbs, bearing tufts 
of leaves only on their extremities, as shown in the 
annexed figure, (fig. 1.) It is not necessary for us 
to point out the evils of this result, so obvious to 
every cultivator. 
The remedy consists 
in keeping the leaf¬ 
bearing branches 
thinned out towards 
their extremities, so 
as to let the light into 
the centre of the head, 
as in fig. 2. This 
may be partly effected 
in trees which have 
been neglected, by 
cutting out shoots of 
some years’ growth 
Fig- & when necessary. But 
the best way is to cut off, near the close of winter, 
from one-half to two-thirds of every last year’s 
shoot, all over the tree, commencing this treatment 
as soon as the tree begins to bear, and repeating it 
annually as long as the continuance of the tree. 
This greatly reduces the weight of foliage, and 
thins the fruit. The crop borne on trees treated 
thus, is not so great as to numbers, but this defi¬ 
ciency is fully made up in measure, and the quality 
is incomparably improved. Such varieties as the 
Heath Cling, which are usually almost worthless, 
from being crowded on the tree, are the most easily 
thinned of their crop in this way—far more so than 
by the more frequent practice of picking off the 
young peaches. 
This shortening of the shoots is so perfectly sim¬ 
ple, that the most awkward workman can hardly 
go wrong, if he only attends to one point, that is to 
cut off two-thirds of the long shoots and half the 
short ones. He may do this with a knife, and aided 
by means of a good standing or self-sustaining lad¬ 
der. This mode of pruning the peach, although 
long ago practiced in some parts of Europe, has 
been but lately introduced to much extent here, 
where it has uniformly been attended with the best 
success. 
North American Pomological Convention., 
The proceedings of this Convention have been 
published, under the supervision of F. R. Elliott, 
in a neat pamphlet of 64 pages. It is occupied 
with a record of the discussions in the Convention ; 
and an extensive and minute report of the state of 
Fruit Culture in Illinois, by Dr. Kennicott,—and in 
New-York, by Dr. Wendell,- w T ith shorter reports 
from Wisconsin, by F. K. Phoenix from Ohio, by 
F. R. Elliott, and from Vermont, by C. Goodrich. 
Altogether, it contains a great amount of valuable 
information on the adaptedness of fruits to the 
widely differing regions of the whole northern por¬ 
tion of the Union. 
The following are the results of the action of the 
convention, on fruits not brought before the conven¬ 
tion the previous year:— 
PLUMS. 
Smith’s Orleans —first-rate. 
Duane’s Purple —second-rate, ranking high for 
size and beauty. 
Lawrence Favorite —ftrst-rate—-not tested at the 
west. 
Long Scarlet —second or third-rate—handsome 
and fine for cooking. 
Lucombe’s Nonsuch —nearly first-rate—poor bear¬ 
er. 
PEARS. 
Fondante d’Automne, {Belle Lucrative )—first 
rate. 
Dutchess of Angouleme —second-rate. Largely 
discussed, and taking its great size, free growth 
and productiveness into consideration, it was re¬ 
garded by most of the members as well worthy of 
cultivation—many regarded it as equal in flavor to 
the Bartlett—but in all cases, it was pronounced 
worthless, unless upon quince stock. 
Gansel’s Bergamot —first-rate—somewhat varia¬ 
ble—a moderate or poor bearer. Growth of the 
tree short and stumpy—leaves mealy. 
Napoleon —good second-rate—fine grower, and 
abundant bearer. 
St. Ghislain —in most localities, first-rate. 
Buff urn —a fine grower, but pronounced second- 
rate by most of the members, and first-rate by a 
few. 
Long Green —second-rate—very thrifty, a good 
bearer, regarded b}^ some as nearly first-rate. 
Julienne —rarely nearly first-rate, often second- 
rate, and frequently worthless. Never fine unless 
gathered before fully ripe. 
Frederick of Wurtemberg—ve ry variable. When 
at perfection, very large, exceedingly beautiful, 
with a brilliant cheek, not exceeded by any wax 
imitation-—needs thinning on the tree, and requires 
high cultivation—very large specimens had been 
produced by manuring the trees with bone-dust. 
Fulton —nearly first-rate, by some as second-rate 
—hardy, productive, and adapted to nearly all lo¬ 
calities. 
Passe Colmar —by some, as second-rate—by oth¬ 
ers as 11 king of pears ”—requires rich and careful 
cultivation to attain perfection, and skilful ripening. 
Beurre Diel —nearly always first-rate—best on 
quince stocks. 
