PEACHES, NECTARINES, AND APRICOTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 142, 17 June 1937, Page 26

PEACHES, NECTARINES, AND APRICOTS

Peaches and nectarines bear entirely on last season's growths and every endeavour should be made, therefore, to ensure new lateral growth each season. The young trees should be formed to make fairly low-growing, stocky trees with plenty of room between the main branches and in the centre. During the growing season the foliage is very dense but if the trees are too open the sun is apt to scorch the bark and check the flow of sap. The leaders should not be allowed to branch out—they should be maintained so that they keep their position. Fruiting laterals should be maintained from top to bottom of the branches.

The "Journal of Agriculture" says: "In pruning for fruit, short, woollybudded laterals may be left unpruned where not too crowded. Weak spurs should be shortened back to the two wood buds near the base. Where there is too much fruiting and weak wood it is necessary to remove some of it altogether, but always bear in mind that fruiting wood will be required for next season, as the peach and nectarine bear only on the past season's growth.

"Some. of the spurs die each year, and others become exhausted or too long, and these must be replaced, or long bare limbs result. It is a good plan to always leave fruit buds in excess of requirements, because less than one-half of the flowers set fruit. The best fruit laterals are in the Strong shoots carrying a series of two flowerbuds with a wood bud in between. These should be shortened back so as to leave only four to eight of these cluster fruiting-buds according to the carrying capacity of the tree.

"The early varieties of peaches have the habit of dropping their flowerbuds just as the sap rises. ... It can be overcome only by intense cultiva* tion. The nipping of the latest shoots during the summer, or pruning them immediately the fruit is harvested, is advised. This would have the effect

of strengthening the buds. The alternative is to leave the pruning until the pink stage of the blossom, for the buds which remain up to that stage do not fall, and there is no risk of cutting off the fruit when pruning. Then shorten back those laterals which show an excess of blossom, leaving others entirely alone and shortening others to wood-buds; in order to throw fruiting wood-buds to carry the following season's crop, constant renewal of growth must be maintained." PRUNING APRICOTS. Apricot trees bear their fruit on short spurs which should be maintained along the main and secondary arms. Light and air are necessary for the ripening of the spurs. Hard winter pruning encourages rampant wood growth at the expense of fruit. The branches of apricots are inclined to be very brittle and to suffer damage by winds, hence the advisability of encouraging a sturdy, fairly lowgrowing tree. During the first two or three years after planting pruning should be towards building a tree with three or four evenly-spaced main branches springing from the trunk from 18 to 24 inches from the ground. Secondary branches should also be evenly spaced and the centre of the tree should be kept fairly open. By shortening the growths on the laterals to four eyes during the summer fruiting spurs are encouraged. In all pruning the first thing is to remove any dead branches or fruit spurs. The next point to be kept in mind is to.cut always to an eye pointing in the direction the new growth is desired. All cuts should be made clean with a sharp tool and within a quarter of an inch of the eye. Where large branches have to be cut out with a saw the cuts should be smoothed off with a sharp knife and be. dressed with tar or paint to prevent the entry of disease spores,. All primings should be gathered up and burnt as soon as

TREE DAHLIAS

A MEXICAN SPECIES

Dahlia imperialis is a Mexican species which grows to a height of from 10 to 12 feet. The large pendant blossoms are single and produced on long thick stems disposed in large spreading panicles. The flowers of imperialis are white tinged with lilac and the variety "Leslie" has larger flowers the colour of which is a beautiful shade of pink changing to light lilac. These tree varieties require a sheltered position on account of their great height. They are most effective in the foreground of a mixed shrubbery and highly attractive at this season when flowering shrubs are not much in evidence. Once planted they are permanent. All that is required is to cut the old stems back when they will restart their growth next season.