1871.] CULTIVATION OF HARDY FRUITS. 559 



enough over the short end, so that the nail passes through three folds of cloth, 

 in place of two. The nail having been placed in this position, and taken 

 hold of by the left thumb and forefinger, the hammer is lifted from the 

 bag by the right hand, and the nail driven into a seam of the wall, when 

 the hammer is at once returned to the bag. This course is to be regularly pur- 

 sued at all times, always having plenty of nails and shreds in the left hand, and 

 the hammer always in the bag, except when in use. It is a little awkw^ard to a 

 man who has been ti'ained otherwise to adopt this method, for a few hours, but I 

 never yet met with a man who had tried it for a day or two, who would ever 

 think of working any other way again. By pursuing this method, one man will 

 perform twice as much work, in a given time, as he or any other one will do, no 

 matter what plan he tries. The plan adopted by most men is to keep the hammer 

 in the right hand almost constantly, and to select from the bag each individual 

 nail and shred as it is required. The first objection to this plan is, that the ham- 

 mer is continually in the way, often coming in contact with the branches, spurs, 

 or buds, and, as a consequence, injuring them to a less or greater extent ; and in 

 the second place, there is more time occupied in selecting a nail and shred from 

 the bag than is necessary. If in the left hand is always kept a stock of nails and 

 shreds, the moment it is opened the workman can always see at a glance the size 

 of shred required, and therefore not a moment is lost in the selection. 



Another thing of great importance to know and understand is, in what position 

 the workman ought to place himself at the work. Let us start with a tree 

 which is in position against the wall, and only requiring to be looked over for 

 deficient or injurious ties and nails, and to have the summer growths neatly put 

 into their places. In this case the workman begins at the bottom of the wall on 

 either the right or left hand side — it matters not ; if on the left side, he looks the 

 bottom branch from the stem outwards to the point, removing all bad ties, &c., 

 and if necessary replacing them by new ones. In performing this operation let 

 him always keep to the left of his work — or before his work, as it is termed — so 

 that in placing the branch into position he directs his eye along towards the stem 

 in order to see if it is straight. This looking along the branch must always be 

 done before the nail is driven, because if not done till after, the chances are that 

 it may require shifting, thereby causing double work. A common and bad 

 practice is to place the branch in its position, thereafter to give up hold of it and 

 select the nail and shred, and to take hold of it again, replace it, and put in the 

 nail. It is easy to see what a waste of time this will cause. The first thing in 

 every case is to take the nail and shred as directed, placing the shred round the 

 branch, thereafter laying dowm the branch in such a position as the eye determines 

 to be the correct one, and nailing it to the wall. If this course is regularly fol- 

 lowed, a man may work for days and never require to alter a single nail which he has 

 driven. The advantage in always looking along the branch towards the stem is, 

 that if the branch is in any degree departing from the straight the eye will at 

 once detect it, whereas in looking from the stem in an outward direction a devia- 

 tion is not so easily noticed ; in fact, in a branch 20 feet long, a deviation of 6 inches 

 will not be more easily detected by the latter means than will a deviation of 1 inch 

 be noticed in looking from the point to the stem. Branch after branch must be 

 gone over in this way till the top of the wall is reached, after which the workman 

 descends and begins at the bottom of the opposite side. 



In nailing a large tree to the wall which has been entirely detached, a somewhat 

 difierent course must be pursued. The workman in this case must first " lay 

 in" the stem or leader, after which he must start at the top of the wall, laying 

 in the branches regularly from the top downwards. The reason for this is evi- 



