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you fhould alfo cut out entirely all weak (hoots, tho* 

 they may have many bloflbm-buds upon them ; for 

 thefe have not ftrength enough to nourifli the fruit, 



'. "but they will weaken the other parts of the tree. 

 In nailing the (hoots to tlie wall, youmuft be careful 

 to place them at as equal diftances as pofTible, that 

 r' their leaves, when come out, may have room to grow 

 without (hading the branches too much j and you 

 fliould never nail them upright if it can be avoided j 



' -for when they are thus trained, they are very fubjeft 



• to (hoot from the uppermoft eyes, and the lower 

 ; part of the fhoots will thereby become naked. 



V Tnerc is not any thing in the bufinefs of gardening, 

 which has more exercifed the thoughts of the curious, 



• Aanliow to preferve their tender forts of fruit from 

 beinig blighted in the fpring of the year, and yet there 



J^ has been little written upon this fubjeft which is 

 f worth notice : fome have propofed mattrefles of ftraw 



vCbr Reeds to be placed before the fruit-trees againft 

 vails, to prevent their |)eing blailed ; others have di- 

 -^ refted the fixing horizontal fhelters in their walls, to 

 i^prcvent the perpendicular dew or rain froni falling lip- 

 J on the bloffoms of the fruit-trees, which they fup- 

 • pofed to be the chief caufe of their blighting ; but 

 ■ both thefe contrivances have tDcen far from anfwering 

 ^ the expedations of thofe perfons wTio have put'them 



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(earch of frc(h ftouri(hment, to fupply the expence (^ 

 the branches ; for want of which, the bloffoms fall ofF 

 and decay, and the (hoots fecm to be.At a ftarid, until 

 the farther advance of the warmth penetrates to the 

 roots, and fets them in motion •, when fuddenly after, 

 the trees, which before looked v/eak and decaying, 

 make prodigious progrefs in their fhoots i and before 

 the fummeV is fpent, are furnifhedwith much ftronger 

 branches than thofe trees which have the full advan- 

 tage of fun and fhowers, and are more fruitful and 

 healthy ; which muft certainly be owing to the caufe 

 here mentioned, as alfo to their drawing in a great 

 quantity of crude moifture, which, though produc- 

 tive of wood, is yet unkindly for fruit : if therefore ' 

 this be the cafe, there is no way of helping it, but by ' 

 . raifing up the trees, if they are young; of if they 

 are too old to remove, it is the better way to root ' 

 them out and make new borders of frefh earth, and 

 plant down young trees ; for it is a great vexation to 

 be at the trouble and expence of pruning arid rha^ 

 naging thefe trees, without having the pleafure of 

 ': reaping ahy advantage from them, which will always 

 V be the cafe where the trees are thus injudicioiifly 

 planted. Or,;--;* : ' ' ' --J' 



n ^Thirdly, This may proceed from the trees wanting 

 -: Hourifbment, which is many times the cafe, where 



^i^ praftice, as I have elfewhere (hewn ; therefore it I ^ they are planted iri^d hard gravelly foil, in which it is 



\'may not be improper to repeat fome things in this 

 - place, which I have before mentioned in relation to 



this matter. And ^^.j.- -'■"^' ^* " ' "^ " '-'' 



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the common practice to dig borders three or four feet 

 ..wide, and three feet deep into the rock of gravel, 

 .A which is filled with good frefh earth, into which the 

 ^/ trees are planted, where they >yill thrive pretty well; 

 * for two years, until their roots reach the gravel, where 

 they are confined as if planted in a pot ; and for want 

 ~" of proper nourifliment, the branches continually decay' 

 ' every year.' This cannot be helped where fhe trees 

 ' have been growing fome years, without taking themt* ' 

 ' the branches very fmall, weak, and not half ripened, j 'eiitirely 'up, or by digging away the gravel froni their 

 a$ alfo trained in very clofe to each other ; thefe j roots, and adding "a large quarifity of frefh earth, that 

 . branches are, for the njoft part, full of bloifom-buds j may afford them a fupply of nourifhment a, few years 



Firft, I have already faid, that the blights which are 



fo often complained of, do not fo often proceed from 



; i any external caufe, or inclemency in the feafon, as 



-' froAi a diftempef'br weaknefs iii the trees"; for if we 



• Obferve the trees at that feafon, where they are the 



■* molt fubjeft to what is called a blight, we (hall find 



(which is chiefly occafioned by their want of (trength.) 

 • Thefe buds do indeed open, and to perfons ribt Ikilled 

 ~ ; in fruit-trees, fliew a great profped of a plentiful 

 ■ .crop of fruit ; whereas the whole ftrength of the 

 '• iil^v branches Ts fpent in nburilhing the flowers, and be- 

 ting unable lo do any fnore, the bloffoms fall ofiF, and 

 ? the fmall efforts of the leaf-buds are checked, fp that 

 '■' many timxs great part or the branches die away, and 

 this is called a great blight j whereas,' if the fame 



longer ; but trees fo planted, cannot l>y any art be coxi* 

 tinued long in Health. '^^' '" 



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But if the unfruitfulnefs of the trees does riot proceed 



from any of the before-mentioned caufes, and is the 



efFe(5t of unkindly feafons, then the befV method yet 



. known is, in dry weather,' When little dew falls, ta 



fpnnklejhe branches of. the trees gently with wafer 



' foon after the bloflbming feafon, and while the youne:- 



- Jet Fruit is tender, which fhould always be done be-- 



•time it may Be' often obferved, that fome trees of a I fore noon, that the moiflure may evaporate before 



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* different fort, nay, even fome of the fame fort, were 



' ftronger and in health, though placed in the fame foil, 



' .» cxpofed to the fame afpeft, and fubjed to the' fame 



* . T^inclemency df'aff, have efcaped very well, when the 



] , " - weak trees have appeared to be almoft dead ; which 



} is a plain indication, that it proceeds from fome caufe 



^^ within the tree, and not from any external blight. All 



' : r\ this will therefore be remedied, by obferving the fore- 



' ; ^ S°'"g direftions in the pruning and management of 



:^' the trees', fo as never to over-burden them with 



i- .; branches^ nor to fuffer any particular part of the tree's 



- to cxhauft 'the whole nourifhment from the root, 

 *- which will caufe the other parts to be very weak i 



but to diftribute the nourifhment equally to every 

 '. I flioot, 'that ttiere may be nbne too vigorous, af the 



- fame time that others are too weak ; and by continu- 

 v> ally rubbing off ufelefs or fore-right fhoots as they are 



■produced, the ftrength of the trees will not be fpent, 



' to nourifh fuch branches as muft be afterwards cut 



-- out, which Is too often feen in the management of 



thefe trees. ^ "And 



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V Secondly, It fometimes happens, that the roots of 

 • thefe trees are buried too deep in the ground, which, 



in a cold or rnbift foil is one of the greateft difadvan- 

 ; tages that can attend thefe tender fruits ; for the fap 

 \ which is contained in the branches, being by the 



warmth* of the fun, put Itrongly into motion early in 

 .^ ihefprjng, is exhaufted in' nourifliing the bloflToms; 



and a part of it is perfpired through the wopd-branches, 



Co that its ftrength is loft before the warmth can reach 

 ' to their ropts, to'j>Ut them into "an equal motion in 



the night comes on ; and if in the night ydu carefully 

 cover the trees with mats, canvas, or fome fuch light 

 covering, it will be of great fervice to them : howe- 

 ver, where the trees are ftrong and vigorous^ We/ 

 are not fo liable to fuffer by a fmall inclemency, as are 

 thofe which are weak, fo that there will be fev/ feafons 

 in which there may not be hopes of a moderate quan- 

 'tity of fruit from them, though there fhould be no 

 '. -'jcovering ufed ; for where thefe coverings are ufed, if 

 ; <*it is not performed with great care and diligence, it is 

 '^^rttuch better to'^have nb'covering^'titif to ti:uft to the 

 clernency of the feafon ; for if , the coverings arc kept 

 too clofe, or continued too long, the treeg will receive 

 more injury hereby, than from being cdnftantly cx- 

 pofed J or, if after having been covered for fome . 

 time, and then incautioufly remoVed, fo as to expole 

 the trees too fuddenly to the open air, they will fuffer 

 more thereby than if they had not been covered. How- 

 ever, I muft repeat 'in this place what has been before. 

 •^ mentigned. under another article, of a ipanagemenc. 

 which has been generally attended with fuccefs, which 

 Js, the putting up two feather-edge deal boards joined 

 ^together over the top of the trees, fo as to form" a 



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''*be^fixed up when the trees begin to blolTom,, and 

 ■IKould remain till the fruit is well fe't, when they 

 Ihould be taken down to admit the dew and rain to 

 * r;the leaves and branches of the trees, which mull not 

 be longer kept off-, and where the wall is long, and 

 , Vexpofed to currents of wind, if at the diftance of forty-^ 

 "feet from each other, are fixed fome *^crofs Reed- 

 hedges 



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