532 
TRAINING PEACHES AND NECTARINES. 
pleasure of visiting Mr. Seymour, and saw the system in practice. 
Since that time I have seen it an operation annually in my own 
neighbourhood ; and the result of my observation, in connection 
with the practical experience of my friends, have produced in my 
mind several objections to it. 
The plan in use by Mr. Seymour is to train an exact centre stem, 
as fig. 91, and from that, side branches, slightly rising upwards, as a a 
91 
The fruit bearing shoots are retained at the upper side of the 
branches, at the distance of nine to twelve inches from each other, as 
b b &c. The origin of each successive shoot from the same source 
is each year farther from its mother branch, and not only does this be¬ 
come naked, but the primary part of the shoot forms a rugged pro¬ 
tuberance similar to the spur of a pear tree, as in fig. 92, a a, and 
each successive year it becomes lengthened, as the origin of a suit¬ 
able new shoot from last year’s w'ood is produced more distant from 
the mother branch. If a shoot does push upon the protuberance, 
and thus be nearer the mother branch, it is uniformly much weaker 
than arising from last year’s wood. 
92 
The appearance is a very unnatural one for this class of trees, and 
is a great deformity. When a shoot, b b dies from casualties, a 
substitute cannot readily be obtained; in some cases it is impossible. 
I have seen three or four such shoots perish successively on the 
same branch, and thus there w^as a yard or two of branch without 
a single lateral shoot upon it; instances of this kind are not solitary. 
Amongst the trees that have come under my observation, my friend, 
who has the management of them, has infonned me that the system 
is more suited for peach than nectarine trees; but he prefers the 
old fan system, and has now given up this other method after several 
years’ trial. The plan answers better under Mr. Seymour’s manage¬ 
ment than I have seen elsewhere. 
