STATE AGRICULTURAL COEEEGE 
heiVwTi'l the nU E ery ‘f, 6 'f lacki «g in laterals at the proper 
W| ht Tf fl P i St r cut , back anyway if we a le to have a low 
J; be !° wel : laterals have been pruned away in the nursery 
ere will be difficulty in securing branches from which a well bal- 
anced head may be formed. One must take this risk. Should 
suitable branches appear they are headed in as above. If no branches 
at all are pushed out where wanted, or those that are formed 
are so situated as to make the tree very much one-sided, a branch 
from near the surface of the ground will nearly always develop 
which can be used to form a new trunk and top. This should be 
treated the same as a newly planted tree and in three or four years 
it cannot be told from the rest. J 
During the second and third years the pruning and trimming 
does not differ materially from that already described. The laterals 
should not be too thick, but enough should be left to produce a 
good bearing surface low down. The trees should be pruned each 
year from now on, heading in the main branches and vigorous lat¬ 
erals from a half to two-thirds of their growth and thinning out 
laterals where too thick. Always head back to a good lateral where- 
ever possible and so prevent the growth of surplus shoots. In any 
case short branches should be encouraged to grow low down on the 
trunk and branches to provide protection from the sun. 
It is a mistake not to keep the branches on peach trees well 
cut back, for if this is not done and the laterals which produce the 
bearing wood grow farther from the body of the tree each year 
which finally results m long, bare branches with a tuft of bearing 
wood at the end. Neither should the attempt be made to cut the 
branches back evenly all around the tree, but each branch should 
be considered as a separate problem. 
Should trees become too tall to be handled to advantage new 
tops can be secured by cutting back all of the limbs at the time the 
pruning is usually done. A luxuriant growth will push out from 
these stubs so that but two seasons of fruit bearing will be lost. 
Precaution needs to be taken, however, not to cut off too large 
limbs, especially on old trees. Neither should a small limb be cut 
back too close to its junction with a large limb. Perhaps the best 
results will follow if none of the limbs are larger than two inches 
in diameter at the point where the cut is made. The stubs should 
be left from about two to four feet in length, depending upon the 
age of the tree, the size of the limb and its location. Too severe 
heading in may easily result in the death of the tree. 
