THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



89 



TRAINING WALL FRUIT TREES. 



Cordon fruit trees become increasingly popular each 

 year, and the reason is not far to seek, for such trees 

 are easily managed, while space is economised to the 

 greatest extent. The early training of the trees is 

 usually carried out in the nursery, and when the cor- 

 dons leave the nursery they should not only possess 

 main stems as straight as gun-rods, but also be fur- 

 nished almost to the ground-level with fruiting spurs. 

 If good trees are procured from the nursery in the first 

 place, it then requires only common-sense methods to 

 retain those trees well trained in one's own garden. 

 Speaking generally, cordons should be planted oblique- 

 ly. The reason for planting them on the slope is that a 

 greater extension can be given to the leaders, which 

 should not be carried above the top of the wall. Ver- 

 tical cordons should only be placed against high walls 

 or pillars, and e\en then over-vigorous varieties should 

 not be planted. .-\ point worth noting in planting 

 cordons is that the more pronounced the incline, the 

 further apart should the trees be placed. Double cor- 

 dons or U-shaped trees are sometimes preferred, and 

 occasionally one sees a wall planted with triple cor- 

 dons ; but for all practical purposes the single cordon 

 gives the best result. Horizontal cordons, with low 

 branches about one foot from the soil and trained par- 

 allel to the ground, are favoured for forming edgings 

 to borders. Growth, however, is so restricted that 

 trees trained in this manner rarely live for very many 

 years. Slow-growing .Apples and Paradise stock are best 

 suited for horizontal cordons. The horizontal trained 

 tree, with branches arranged tier tipon tier, is one of 

 the best form of trained trees for planting against 

 walls. Should the branches on one side of the tree 

 grow at the expense of those on the opposite side, the 

 vigorous branches should be tied down temporarily. 

 This will weaken them, while the weak branches may 

 be strengthened by being raised. .Much may also be 

 said in favor of the fan-trained tree, particularly with 

 such fruits as Cherries, Peaches. Nectarines and 

 Apricots. The Pear, however, is one of the easiest 

 trees to train, and will dn equallx^ well as a cordon, 

 either single or doulile or horizontally trained. An- 

 other type of wall tree worthy of note is the trained 

 standard fan. Obviously it is only suited to \ery high 

 walls or Iniildings. On the Continent it is regarded as 

 a lucrative way of covering the upper part of one's 

 house. 



In pruning trained trees, .\pple. Pear and Plum, the 

 object should be to make every branch a cordon, with 

 fruit spurs along the entire length of the branch. "Once 

 a fruit spur always a fruit spur" is an old saying among 

 fruit-growers. In order to secure fruiting spurs it is 

 necessary to prune hard the second season after plant- 

 ing, and the following season the resultant vigorous 

 growth should be shortened to about one-third its 

 length. .Summer pruning is important. It is accom- 

 plished by pruning i ir pinching back lateral growths 

 to the extent of about 4 inches in July. This should be 

 annually followed by winter pruning, when the side 

 growths are cut back to two or three eyes. The fruit- 

 ing spurs should, of course, never be prun'ed. \\'itli 

 horizontal trained trees the leader should be cut back 

 to within a foot of the top horizontal . tier, and with 

 cordons it may be shortened in proportion. 



Unlike the .\pple and Pear, Peach and Xectarine 

 trees fruit upon the young wood, and not im fruiting 

 spurs. The main shoots should l)e sliortened about one 

 foot in winter, and overcrowded growths tliinned tn 

 the base. The vriung or fruitinsj wood shonlil he re- 



tained and laid in on the upper side of the leaders only. 

 This will ensure uniformity in fan-shaped trees and 

 avoid the crossing of branches. 



The work of planting is best carried out in the au- 

 tumn, but it may be successfully accomplished at any 

 time when growth is dormant, providing, of course, 

 that the weather is open and that the soil may be 

 readily worked. It is a common mistake to over-ma- 

 nure the soil at the time of planting. Providing that 

 the soil has been previously worked, very little, if any, 

 manure need be applied, and even then only well-rotted 

 manure should be incorporated with the soil. In cases 

 where the soil is deficient in lime, the addition of a 

 little lime rubble around the roots of each tree will 

 ])rove highly Ijeneficial : in fact, the value of lime rul?- 

 ble for fruit trees generally cannot be overrated, ^\'hen 

 planting trained trees against walls, the base of the 

 trees should be brought about 10 inches forward away 

 from the wall. — Tlic Garden. 



EDELWEISS IN AMERICAN GARDENS. 



By John W. Co.ates, Jr. 



The interest in edelweiss has been greatlv accentuated 

 because of the rarity of the little flowers. They are in- 

 digenous to the .\lpine regions and. according to the 

 prevalent belief, grow only in almost inaccessible places. 

 -So general is this opinion that even an accomplished 

 .\lpine mountaineer in writing of the edelweiss says. 

 "Strangely enough, it always grows in a spot to be 

 reached only with the utmost peril. You will sep a tuft 

 of its beautifully white flowers overhanging a precipice, 

 or waving on a ]jerpendicular wall of rock, to be ap- 

 proached but b}- a lea]), where perhaps a chamois could 

 hardly stand." 



This statement covers the general belief as to the na- 

 ture of edelweiss. The natives of the Tyrol and Bavaria 

 have reaped a rich harvest through the sale of the flow- 

 ers to tourists, who buy them as souvenirs of the Alps, 

 apparently believing that each of the little flowers has 

 been gained only at the risk of human lives and limbs. 

 Thus the native profits bv a theor\- that is decidedly er- 

 roneous. 



Edelweiss, it is true, does frequently grow in places 

 dangerous of access, but it is also true that many clum])s 

 of the dainty, woolly flowers are found growing thickly 

 on broad pasture slopes in parts of the Tyrol and Bava- 

 ria. There never has been an abundance of them, Init it 

 is a poor day when one does not discover two or three 

 of these clumps of edelweiss in a day's climb. 



In -America, until recent years, comparatively few 

 people have known the edelweiss by sight, their only ac- 

 (|uaintance being with the dried, pressed specimens im- 

 ported as souvenirs. The fresh edelweiss has been an 

 unknown flower to the stay-at-home American. Within 

 the last few years, however, it has been grown in this 

 country In- nian\- peo])le. ( )ne of those who have been 

 particularly successful witii it is Mr. Louis Ettlinger. 

 whose home is the old Henr)- Ward Beecher place at 

 Peekskill, New York. 



While touring in Switzerland, several years ago, .Mr. 

 Ettlinger secured a ])acket of the genuine Swiss edel- 

 weiss seeds, and on his return to .America planted them 

 in his hothouse. The following spring, in early May, 

 the plants were set out in a shady, cool part of the flower 

 garden, and their growth watched carefully. That sea- 

 son, however, the plants struggled along without bloom- 

 ing at all successfully, and it was decided to try again the 

 following year. 



In the first planting, Mr. Ettlinger had tried to keep 

 tlic plants in as ccml a i)l;u:e as possible, believing that 



