May 20, 1609. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAiiDENEB. 



343 



grow beyond six leaves ; all the rest, as soon as they have made 

 six leaves, must have their points and the two end leaves pinched 

 off, 80 as to k'avi: four full-grown leaves on each ; this will re- 

 quire to be done in June or tarly in July. The terminal shoots 

 of the leader and six branches mutt be treated exactly as in the 

 previous season ; and if any of the new laterals that liavo been 

 pinched push again, pinch their shoots down to two leaves as 

 soon as they have made four new ones. If they push again, 

 pinch them to one leaf. 



In the following spring we have merely to repeat this process 

 of cutting-baeU the icaderand the extensions of the six branches, 

 removing about one-third of the new growth, and, in addition, 

 the pinched laterals must be cut back to three eyes, and if we 

 are contented to confine the tree to this very simple form of one 

 central leader and six side branches, nothing more ig needed than 

 the annual repetition of the work already described, the result 

 being such a tree as Jig. 22. 



Fig. 22. — Pyramidal Pear tree at the end of the fourth year, showing the 

 points to which it has been cat back in successive iipringa, and also the 

 formation of the fruit spurs. 



Hitherto I have tried to explain this process synthetically, 

 according to philosophers' terms, and I shall now try the analytic 

 method, which cinsists in taking to pieces instead of building 

 up. The tree I have been dealing with is not an imaginary one, 

 but a portrait of one in my orchard, about 4^ feel high, and 

 coming into blossom for the first time. The drawing of it has 

 been made just as its buds are on the point of bursting ; the 

 branches arc bent a litile more than they are in reality, but I 

 am not sorry for this, as it marks most clearly the successive 

 years' growth. 



Fig. 22, then, represents the tree at the beginning of the fifth 

 year, or, excepting the state of the buds, the form it would have 

 at the end of the fourth year. 



AH the points marked d are those to which the central leader 

 and six branches were cut back last season, or rather I should 

 say, to which five of the six branches were cut back, for it will 

 be seen that one of them has met with an accident the year 

 before, and it was, consequently, allowed to grow on in order to 

 recover its place, and it may also be seen that the snag which is 

 the remnant of its proper extension has not yet been cut off; it 



is on the c line on tho right hand side and next the leader. A 

 few laterals arc observed al.so on the last year's extensions, Just 

 as they have boon left by tlie pinching-baek list summer ; these 

 must now be cut in to three eyes. The ends of the branches 

 were pinched olf at tho end of August, and have not broken 

 again ; and as the buds are well ripened and developed all the 

 way down, I shall not cut them at all shorter, and unless some 

 of them outgrow the rest, they will not require shortening for 

 years to come. The annual lifting the tree in the autumn now 

 prevents too vigorous growlli, and by turning the tree, or by 

 inclining it slightly, we can always give the advantage of 

 southern aspect and more upright direction to any weak member 

 of the family, and so preserve the balance with very little appU- 

 catiiin of the knife. 



On the c line are the marks of the cutting-back of the pre- 

 ceding year — that is, Jig. 22, before these cuts were made, was 

 Jig. 21 (see page 311), as that in its turn was the year before 

 jlg. 20. This little tree has had no check from removal ; had it 

 required potting, the growtli would not have been so vigorous 

 and regular. A jjotted stock does not furnish such vigorous 

 shoots the year it is grafted as one in tho open ground ; but I 

 think the absence of violent check afterwards fully compensates 

 for this want of early vigour. When tho tree is worked on a 

 stock in the open gi'ound, it should not be disturbed till it has 

 acquired as much development as in fig. 21 ; it should then be 

 potted at the end of September, and plunged for a month or sii 

 weeks in a heap of decaying leaves or manure, and then be 

 piled for the winter. 



It will be readily seen that this tree could easily have been 

 formed into a goblet or wine-glass shape by cutting out clean the 

 central shoot itomjig. 21 ; but it would have been better to have 

 stopped this shoot seven or eight buds lower down, and when it 

 broke again to have pinched the elongation to a single leaf. 

 You may train to this form by suppressing the central leader 

 entirely ; but in that ca^e tho shoot from the uppermost eye left 

 in Jig. 20 must be tied to a stick to keep it in its proper position, 

 and it wUl be inclined to grow too vigorously for the other 

 branches, so the simplest way after all is to allow the central 

 leader to grow at first, and then stop it, and in the following 

 spring to remove it. 



The umbrella form is obtained by allowing the A. shoot of 

 fig. 20 to grow for tv/o years, taking care that no laterals extend 

 themselves, rubbing out early in the spring all the eyes on the 

 lower two-thirds of the stems. In this way a clean stem of any 

 height may be obtained ; but usually in two years one 4 or 

 5 feet high will be produced. The top should be pinched off at 

 somewhat more than the desired height at the end of August, to 

 ripen the wood, and in the spring following the top must be cut 

 off at the correct height, and all the buds but the uppermost six 

 or seven must be rubbed off. In this way we shall obtain just 

 such a growth as Jig. 21, only the stem wUl be 4 or 5 feet high 

 instead of as many inches. In the following season the central 

 leader must be cut closely off, and the branches depressed by 

 tying them to a hoop or wire ring. The hoop may be secured 

 by strings and pegs to the proper height from the ground, and 

 the branches bent down to it, so as to stand horizontally the 

 first season. In following years the extensions are to be carried 

 further down till the ribs are as long as desired. During this 

 time the laterals must be pinched back to three or four leaves, 

 as in the pyramid, the only difference being that the buds next 

 the stem wUl in the goblet form be inclined to make too strong 

 laterals, and we have no need for pruning-back to secure their 

 development. At first sight this seems to give an advantage to 

 this form over the other ; but, in fact, it is not a good one, for 

 the f.ow of sap to the extremities is not strong enough, and I 

 only mention it as a desirable form where a variety is wished for. 

 The three forms now described may be varied by allowing the 

 six branches to fork each time they arc cut back — that is, the 

 portions of them between c and d, fig. 22, would have been 

 composed of two extensions each, by permitting two eyes to 

 grow without stopping; and so again the next season, each of 

 these two extensions is to be allowed to form two new ones, 

 the object of this continual bifurcation being to fill up the 

 spaces more closely as the branches recede further from the 

 stem. In the ease of large trees this is often an improvement ; 

 but in our potted trees it is rarely of service, for it is better to 

 keep the branches tolerably close and upright from the very 

 first ; six or seven strong branches can carry a heavy crop of 

 fruit, and are more easily managed than twice or four times the 

 number. The open form is the great advantage these regularly- 

 trained trees possess over the irregular forms ; sun and air have 

 free access to every leaf and fruit, and this is the main object of 



