558 THE GARDENER. [Dec. 



the amount of labour necessary to keep the trees in trim, the difference of the 

 prices between the materials employed for the work, or the cleanliness and health 

 of the trees under cultivation. 



The concluding chapter of a series such as I have given in the * Gardener ' can 

 very properly be devoted to such a subject as the art of nailing, as I believe that, 

 notwithstanding all that has been said and ^vritten upon the other side, at least 

 nine-tenths of our wall-trees are at the present time trained upon the old method 

 with shreds and nails. The only advantage in the method is that trees can be 

 trained more neatly in this way than by the tying of the wood to trellis-work. 

 Even in the matter of economy we believe that in the end the trellis-work would 

 proye the cheaper, as all that is necessary for the work is a few pounds of string 

 yearly, which will not cost more than twenty per cent of what is necessary to buy 

 the nails and shreds used for nailing, not to speak of the extra amount of time 

 that is necessary to perform the work on the old method. Evei-ything considered, 

 we believe that we are not far from the mark when we say that from 12 to 15 years 

 is sufficient time for the trellis-work to become cheaper to the proprietor than 

 the old plan of nailing. 



As we are not however, discussing this point, we will at once come to the sub- 

 ject of our present paper, and treat as briefly and plainly as possible the art of 

 nailing. Some may think that it is almost unnecessary to enter upon this subject, 

 as nailing is a thing any one can perform. That I frankly admit : any man can 

 nail, but every man is not a good nailer. The truth is, that very few have any 

 very clear or definite ideas about the matter at all. Many think all that is necessary 

 is to fix the shoot against the wall so as not to be broken by the wind, no matter 

 whether it is artistically done or not. This is a great fallacy, as it is as easy to do 

 the w^ork artistically as not, while it does the tree no injury if it has been regu- 

 larly attended to in the same way all along ; and no one can deny that a tree artis- 

 tically trained is a thing to look upon and admire, whereas, on the other hand, a 

 tree badly trained is an eyesore the whole season through. It is nevertheless 

 true that the mere nailing of the tree, except in one or two particular cases which 

 we adverted to in some of our former papers, has nothing at all to do with the fruit- 

 producing qualities of the tree. It will therefore be evident that artistic training of 

 trees is advocated by us for appearance' sake only. The first thing to be considered 

 at the nailing season is to have in readiness all the necessary requirements, which 

 include a hammer, a leather bag with straps to reach over the shoulders and round 

 the waist, a bunch of tarred twine for tying the stronger branches, a quantity of 

 cast-iron nails, and a quantity of shreds. If the bag is divided into two compart- 

 ments, all the better, for the nails and shreds can be kept separate. The shreds ought 

 to be neatly cut, in lengths of from 2 to 4 inches, and of not more than 4 an inch in 

 width. These things having been procured, the work may at once commence ; 

 the workman taking a few nails and a few shreds into his left hand, and retaining 

 them there, while his hammer is placed in the bag, in readiness to be used at any 

 moment. Commencing at the stem of the tree, he looks along every branch, re- 

 moving every tie or shred that is either hurting the tree, or from age and decay 

 has become of no service. If necessary, these must be replaced by new material; 

 if not, there is no use to do more than remove the old. Where a new shred is 

 needed, the operator selects a shred from his left hand, and also a nail. The 

 former he takes hold of with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, while he 

 places the nail between the middle and fore fingers of his right hand, with the 

 point facing outwards. This having been done, he places the shred round the 

 branch to be nailed in the position it is to occupy, and drawing the shred so that 

 one end is longer than the other, thereby enabling him to fold the long end far 



