..FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
211 
I of summer pruning*. With all early ma¬ 
turing fruit the pruning can be done by 
I July 15th. There is no use doing much 
summer pruning after August 1st, as 
it is then too late for the formation of 
a fruiting top of desirable size for the 
next year’s crop, and also after that 
time much of the growth is “blind.” 
Close' winter pruning induces a heavy 
growth of new wood with the conse¬ 
quence that the fruit is shaded by 
heavy foliage and is later and not so 
highly colored. Our season is very 
long for a tree to maintain a continu¬ 
ous unchecked period of growth, and 
summer pruning gives a brief respite 
followed by rapid growth which will 
form a new top for next year’s crop, 
and the increased leaf area builds up 
food for a future crop, storing it in the 
limbs of the tree. Where pruning has 
not been done for some time the leaves 
maturing late in the summer are at¬ 
tacked by fungi and hence fall at the 
time they are most needed, and even if 
sprayed the old leaves would not be 
such efficient starch producers as the 
new growth. Again, where the leaves 
have shed during the late summer, 
there will be another attempt on the 
part of the tree to leaf-out again in the 
fall. This will occur when maturity 
should be setting in for the winter, 
thus exhausting some of the starch al¬ 
ready stored in the limbs for future use. 
Correct pruning should put the trees 
in such shape that no fruit-ladder would 
be needed. Short limbs reduce the 
strain on the tree and much larger and 
finer fruit can be grown near the main 
trunk than on long limbs. If any mem- 
I 
ber of our Society who plays golf wish¬ 
es to put the matter to a test let him 
try the difference in carrying a basket 
of peaches in his hand or at the end of 
a 10- or 15-foot pole, and he will obtain 
an accurate idea of the tree’s position, 
and realize why it strikes for a shorter 
crop just as he would strike for a short¬ 
er pole. Correct pruning results in 
these three prime essentials: (1) Low¬ 
er cost in picking and tree ladders not 
required. (2) Better fruit; the peaches 
will average from 50 to 100 per cent 
larger, of much finer appearance and 
superior quality. (3) The average life 
of the tree is almost quadrupled. 
Thus much for the tree, now for the 
fruit. No work on a peach orchard 
pays better than thinning and it seems 
strange how very generally it is ne¬ 
glected. Thinning also prolongs the 
life of the tree, and also improves 
equally with proper pruning the quality 
and the size of the fruit, which means 
higher prices and better returns. More¬ 
over peach trees which are regularly 
pruned and thinned should bear every 
year and not alternate years, as so of¬ 
ten is the case. There is one golden 
rule, and one only, for successful thin¬ 
ning. This is “no two peaches should 
stand closer on the same branch than 
five inches.” Thinning should be done 
when the fruit is about the size of the 
thumb nail, but precaution should be 
taken not to do this until after all dan¬ 
ger from frost is over, as it is possible 
that some of the fruit might be injured 
by cold, whereas others would escape 
and the grower can judge accordingly 
the extent of his thinning. Many au- 
