304 THE GARDENER. [July 



3 feet. This room is necessary, not only for space required when per- 

 forming the necessary operations connected with their proper cultiva- 

 tion, but also for the purpose of admitting sun and air, without which 

 success cannot be had. 



In pruning such trees in winter, all side -growths from the main 

 branches must be pruned back to one or two buds. In summer all 

 side-shoots should be pinched back, after they have made six or seven 

 leaves, to three, and this must be repeated if necessary. All terminal 

 shoots must be allowed 'to grow on, and not be stopped until the 

 usual shortening-in in winter. Such restriction will naturally tend to 

 the production of fruit-buds in abundance, but not if the trees are 

 over-luxuriant. It is therefore necessary, in almost all cases, to peri- 

 odically raise the roots and shorten back the strong fibreless ones — in 

 other words, root-prune them, as we have already advised under an- 

 other head. Only a moderate growth can be fruitful. When weakly, 

 there is not vigour enough to produce quantities of fine fruit. The 

 cure is assistance by means of manuring, as before treated of. When 

 the trees grow rampantly, flower-buds do not form : the cure is their 

 root-pruning and root-lifting. When trees grow moderately and bear 

 freely, neither operation is necessary. 



Perhaps we ought to caution beginners against stumping off all 

 annual growth — leaders and everything. Trees which do not or are 

 not allowed to progress within certain limits annually, soon get into 

 a bad w^ay. Restriction, to some extent, can be practised with 

 safety, if a proper balance between top and root be maintained, and 

 even with profit : but when this restriction becomes absolute, either 

 by starvation, root-pruning, or top-pruning, especially, the latter, trees 

 (especially small ones) soon get into a bad state. There are scores of 

 trees representing all the modes of absolute restriction to be seen all 

 over the country ; we hope these remarks may be the cause of such 

 trees being properly treated in numbers of instances. Absolute re- 

 striction has to be adopted inside glass structures, on walls, &c., and 

 Nature herself adopts the plan in the case of full-grown trees ; but with 

 trees which have not attained half or quarter their natural dimensions,. 

 or have not filled their places on walls, tfec, the case is very different. 

 Most cottagers and villa-owners have to complain that their space is- 

 very limited. Land is scarce in this densely-populated and wealthy 

 country, but we presume nobody is restricted from going either up- 

 wards or downwards. Soil may be made any practical depth, and 

 depth of soil, especially in the case of fruit-trees, is nearly as good as 

 width. An acre of ground with 12 inches of soil is nearly worth 

 twice as much as one with only 6, for it will produce twice as much, 

 and land should be valued more in accordance with its capabilities 

 than its extent. Of course 6 inches of soil may be made 12. Indeed' 

 we rather think the acre of deeper soil worth more than twice a& 

 much of the thinner ; for while the labour necessary for two acres 



