200 



THE FLOEAL WORLD AND aARDEN till IDE 



be regulated by pincliing ^vitb. the 

 finger and thumb during the months 

 of June and July. By a careful se- 

 lection of varieties the desired forms 

 may be obtained with very little arti- 

 ficial aid, as some kinds naturally 

 grow into dense bushes, others make 

 Bpreading bushes and pyi-amids. The 

 best form for all dwarf fruit-trees in 

 small gardens is that generally known 

 as the " gun barrel," or upright bush. 

 This form is produced by closely 

 pinching in all the side-shoots to 

 cause the formation of secondary 

 shoots and spurs. The trees may be 

 five or six feet high and not more 

 than two feet in diameter, regularly 

 furnished from top to bottom with 

 short side-shoots regular]}'' clothed 

 with bearing spurs. We have in our 

 fruit garden a collection of pears and 

 apples grown in this close fashion, and 

 they bear most profusely and admit of 

 being planted in rows three feet apart, 

 and the trees two feet six inches from 

 stem to stem. Tiie majority are not 

 more than eighteen inches through. 

 Eipston Pippin, Nonsuch, Nonpareil, 

 Baron Ward, Cox's Pomona and 

 Orange Pippin, Devonshire Qtiarren- 

 don. Golden Harvey, Golden Pippin, 

 Cornish Gilliflower, are among those 

 in our collection which most readily 

 submit to this method of culture. The 

 trees are lifted either annually or bi- 

 ennially, according to their habit of 

 growth. Those that bear freely are 

 lifted biennially, those that grow 

 luxuriantly are kept in chectk by an- 

 nual lifting. If any portion of the 

 stems are bare, we furnish them by 

 inserting buds iu July, and the shoots 

 from these buds and all other new 

 shoots are pinched back to three 

 leaves from the base, as soon as they 

 have made about five or six leaves 

 each. The side-shoots are again 

 pinched back in the same way, and the 

 trees then get regularly clothed with 

 bearing sj)urs. This is the best me- 

 thod of appropriating a small piece 

 of ground in a small garden, as there 

 is a certainty of a large production 

 sooner from the first planting than 

 by any other method. Twenty or 

 more varieties can be grown on the 

 same space of ground as would be re- 

 quired for one standard tree, and the 



trees being completely under control, 

 afford much pleasurable recreation in 

 their management. But for market 

 supply the old fashioned standards 

 are infinitely more profitable, and we 

 would not be without a few standards 

 for the supply of the kitchen, even had 

 we the largest imaginable collection of 

 dwarfs and bushes. Those who have 

 not seen trees of this kind may regard 

 the Irish yew as the model, on the 

 outline of which they are to be formed- 

 JSsjndiers. — There are various 

 ways of forming espaliers. The usual 

 method is to cut the trees down to 

 within a foot of the ground at the 

 first planting, and allow three shoots 

 to start to form a fan-shaped espalier. 

 We prefer one central upright leader, 

 and a regular series of horizontal 

 branches, as the trees come sooner 

 into bearing when trained horizon- 

 tally than when trained at the more 

 natural angle of regular radiation 

 from the centre. Pive feet is quite 

 high enough, and from the very first 

 they should be carefully trained, 

 breast-wood cut away, side stems en- 

 couraged, and blank spaces should 

 be furnished by budding or grafting. 

 Some espaliers we planted a few 3'ear3 

 since were too long in the stem to 

 furnish the lowest line of rails to 

 which they were to be trained, and, 

 instead of working buds or scions on 

 them to form shoots near the ground, 

 we cut incisions, in the month of 

 Maj-, lialf an inch wide and half an 

 inch deep, just above where the 

 branches were required, on each side 

 of the trees. These incisions were 

 covered with grafting clay. The 

 next season these incision were per- 

 fectly healed, and the majority of 

 them had formed buds immediately 

 at the base ; tbese buds pushed and 

 proved as good shoots as if they had 

 been worked, proving that those who 

 are unskilful in the insertion of buds 

 and grafts, may adopt a more easy 

 method of furnishing the bare stems 

 of espalier and bush apple-trees. 



In training espaliers it is very im- 

 portant to tie in early all the new 

 shoots of the season, that they may 

 have the required direction before the 

 wood begins to harden, after which 

 they may have to be more or less 



