124 
THE CULTIVATION OF PEACH AND NECTARINE TREES. 
1 
must be apparent, as in the latter case the more a tree has grown the more old wood there is along the 
bottom of the wall. 
When the border has well settled down, it is fit for planting. The trees should be placed so as to 
have three or four inches of their roots above the ground level, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. I in¬ 
variably make it a rule to keep the neck of the trees two courses of bricks above what is to be the 
ground level, and, after planting, litter is put around each tree, so that they are well mulched for the 
first summer, and continue so until the following spring. If the summer should prove dry, they will 
require frequent and copious waterings. The following spring, whatever litter remains, as well as the 
soil, among the forks of the roots 
will require levelling down to the 
ground line (Fig. 3), in which state 
the roots for the future are to be left 
exposed. Trees planted in this way 
will be found to flourish much better 
than if their roots are wholly co¬ 
vered. I plant about twelve inches 
from the wall, it being advanta¬ 
geous to keep a reasonable distance 
to prevent the stem getting sun ¬ 
burnt, which it is more than 
probable may happen if it is 
set close to the wall. Twenty- 
four feet apart is little enough for 
trees on a ten or twelve feet wall, 
and I have had them cover the 
whole of that space in four years 
from the time of planting and pro¬ 
duce the most abundant crops. So 
plentiful indeed have I had them 
in the third year after planting, 
that I have sent fruit to the Hall 
table by the garden sieve full. Six 
years ago I saw some trees 
in excellent condition, which I 
had thus planted fifteen years 
previously. 
I prefer two-year-old headed plants, with five or six branches (such as Fig. 1). The head should 
be clean and healthy, not over gross; the stem should be clean, straight, and healthy. Hide-bound 
cankery or knotty stocks, and trees with large scars or wounds in the head, should be rejected as likely 
to gum or canker. The branches forming the head should be, as nearly as possible, of equal strength, 
as when headed back they will probably then break more regularly. A tree with one or two strong 
branches at one side, will, in all probability, become a one-sided tree. 
I will now explain my mode of pruning aud training the Peach and Nectarine. Fig. 1 shows a 
newly-planted tree, to be cut back to two or three eyes, where these appear most likely to break. Not 
more than two shoots must be allowed to push from each branch. As the loss of a branch would be 
irreparable, they should receive constant attention, and as soon as the shoots are long enough, they 
should be steadied by a loose shred, and this care must be continued through the season when requisite. 
