Cutting back should be done during the latter half of the dormant
period and thinning of shoots to proper balance a new head should be
carefully done the following winter. It is a hard job to get young trees
to start among old trees and you are apt to get a mixed lot of trees
which you will not be proud of. Cut back as suggested or rip out, plow
deeply and start anew, placing the rows midway between the old rows.
Will He Have Peaches?
I have a young orchard between five and six years old, mostly of the
Lovell variety. I didn't have much of a crop this year. Should I have a
good crop next year?
You ought to be able to tell now how full a set of fruit buds you have.
If you do not know what the fruit buds are, ask some neighbor who knows
peaches to point them out. If you have a good show of fruit buds, the
question in California is not whether they will winter-kill or not, but
whether the leaves held late enough the preceding summer and therefore
the tree had strength enough to make good strong fruit buds. The late
action of the leaves shows that the trees had enough autumn moisture.
You will soon learn to recognize the condition also from the plumpness
of the wood which carries the fruit buds. If all has gone well so far,
the next point is to spray with the bordeaux mixture in November or
December so that the new wood shall not be attacked by the peach blight
or shothole fungus.
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