Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/482

446] P Jft5 required not only the eye of an ac- curate observer, but also a com- plete knowledge of the various kinds of fruit-bearing trees, their peculiar nature, and habits j be- cause almost every sort must be treated in a different manner. Many of these commonly produce their fruit on the shoots of the pre- ceding year, such as peaches, neda- rines,&c. ; others again, on branches which have attained the age of 3, 5, 15, or 20 years j for instance, pears, plums, cherries, &c. — For the pro- per nursmg and training of iill these trees, it will be indispensably re- quisite to attend to this circum- stance, that a sufficient portion of fertile wood be left in e ery part : at the same time, it would be pre- judicial to the growth and health of a tree, to leave too many useless branches, which only tend to ex- haust their nutritive powers, and eventually to accelerate their de- cay. On the whole, it deserves to be noticed, that peaches, ne6tarines, apricots, cherries, and plums, will thrive more vigorously, when they are pruned with a sparing hand j as, otherwise, they are apt to llced profusely, or to part with such a quantity of gum, as will often prove fatal : hence, the safest me- thod is, to remove only the super- fluous sprigs as soon as they ap- pear, and not to cut off those new •hoots, which may be required to fill up vacant spaces on the wall. By such management, the trees above alluded to, may be pre- ierved in a prosperous condition ;, and they will grow with greater regularity, and less trouble, than by the common method of clipping them promiscuously, Apple and jiear-trees ought to be treated, during the summer, in a similar manner ; but, ia the win- ter, they require a different pro- cess. For, as peaches and nefta- rines bear their fruits mostly oil the annual branches, these must be lopped according to the degree of strength observed in the indivi- dual tree} so that they may be left in a state sufficiently vigorous to produce new shoots in the suc- ceeding year: on the contrary, pear, apple, plum, and cherry- trees, yielding their fruits on the young sprigs that proceed from boughs of several years growth, they should not be pruned ; because branches which naturally abound with these sprouts, would thus in- crease the wood, but never afford a proportionate addition of fruit. — > And, as it frequently happens, that the flower-buds appear first on the extremity of the last year's sprig, such cutting of the branches would deprive the tree of its future blos- soms. With respeft to the pruning of high or lofty trees, we shall briefly observe, that their branches ought not to be curtailed or removed, unless tht-y grow too luxuriantly and irreguJarly on one side of the stem, so as to deprive the collate- ral boughs of the necessary supply of sap ; on account of which , other parts of the tree would remain dc- flcient ; or its roots might be too much weakened : in this case, it will be advisable to lop a branch to such extent, as may be deemed re- quisite for the produftion of lateral boughs, in order to supply the opea or naked sides. These observa- tions, however, apply only to apple and pear-trees, which shoot forth their blossoms from the branchy wood, after it has attained the age of several years : on the contrary, most kinds of stone fruit would, after such pruning, part with their gurrif and speedily perish. BAT.