Juno 3, 1809. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE UABDENER. 



367 



SUMMER-PINCniNG, OR STOPPING THE 

 GROWING SHOOTS OF FRUIT TREES. 



HIS all-important operation in fruit-cultivation 

 now requires attention. It is a praetice which 

 has often been advocated in your I'olurans in 

 a very clear and able manner by Mr. Rivers 

 and others ; and my only reason or excuse 

 for adverting to it hero is, that frequently in 

 the pressure of other work at this season it 

 is apt to bo delayed and forgotten nntil too 

 late. Trees grow so fast at this season that, if 

 not seen to for a week or so, one is astounded 

 at the progress they have made, and then the knife has to 

 be used so unmercifully that no wonder the trees suffer 

 through it. And, again, a good thing cannot bo too often 

 repeated. It is well, I think, to give frequent reminders 

 of all important operations in their due season in horticul- 

 tural journals. That, in fact, is the end and' aim of your 

 " Work for the Week " and " Doings of Last Week," whicli, 

 although gardeners are not very fond of owning it, I know 

 have often done good service. 



But to return. The time for pinching the growing slioots 

 of fruit trees — Apples, Penrs, Plums, Cherries, Apricots, 

 and I may include Peaches, although these last require 

 somewhat special treatment, excepting in the case of 

 orchard-house, bush, and pyramid trees^is now at hand ; 

 and if success is expected to attend the operation, constant 

 supervision is now necessary. 



The advantages of a correct system of pinching are 

 obvious to everyone. The work is easy and simple, and if 

 done now little or no pruning will be required in winter. 

 By closely following it up the vigour of the tree may be 

 moderated and regulated, so as to make every part fruitful 

 alike, and with few exceptions the most stubborn trees 

 may be made fruitful by this simple operation. All cannot 

 be treated exactly alike. Some are of more robust growth 

 than others, and consequently require a little more liberty 

 of action, and a more frequent application of the process is 

 necessary than with slower-growing trees. No exact rule 

 of procedure can, therefore, well be laid down ; very much 

 must necessarily be left to the operator's discretion. The 

 operation should be performed when the shoots are young 

 and tender, when they will readily snap off with the fingers. 

 All formally-trained trees, whether on walls or in the 

 open quarter, must be kept in trim by the use of the thumb 

 and finger at all events : and the principal rule to bear in 

 mind is this — Pinch the strongest shoots first, and only 

 tJiese, which are in general situated at the top of the 

 tree ; then in the course of four or five days repeat the 

 operation with the next strongest lower down, and so on 

 in succession until all have been done, and then begin at 

 the top again, and so on as required. Never denude the 

 tx'ee of a great quantity of foliage at an}' one time, as by 

 so doing a cheolc is given which might prove injurious. 

 Pinch the most vigorous portions of the tree the hardest, 

 and allow the weaker to grow a little longer. Thus the 

 shoots at the top of a Penr tree on a wall should be pinched 

 to two or three eyes, wliile at the bottom of the wall they 



No. 427.— Vol. XVI., New Series. 



should be allowed five or six. This should be the rule, 

 and by adopting it uniformity of action throughout the 

 tree will be secured, and a regular crop of fruit. 



In how many gardens do we see the wall trees healthy 

 and vigorous, yet totally destitute of fruit, with the excep- 

 tion of just a few at the extremities of the branches : yet, 

 can we wonder when we see the treatment to wliich they 

 are subjected ? The breastwood is allowed to grow without 

 heed or check until, some day, the whole is stripped off as 

 bare as a Thorn hedge, thereby completely paralysing the 

 action of the tree : or, perhaps, only a portion is taken, and 

 that the lower, leaving tlio top part until some future con- 

 venient opportunity. This I have been compelled to do 

 myself sometimes. The consequences are, increasing vigour 

 in the top, where it ought to be suppressed, and a total 

 absence of fruit. It cannot be too forcibly impressed, to 

 always check the top or strongest part of a tree the first, 

 and allow a greater leaf-development in the lower and 

 weaker portion. 



Apricot, Plum, and Cherry frees may be pinched with 

 advantage more closely than Apples or Pears, yet all will 

 amply repay the trouble. It is much more easily accom- 

 plished than winter pruning, and gi'eatly more beneficial ; 

 in fact, in many soils and with many trees, if it canncit be 

 done in summer it is better not to do it at all if fruit is 

 required, as the entire tendency of pruning in winter is 

 increased vigour and the production of mere shoots, not 

 fruit. 



In conclusion, I would bog to recommend all interested 

 to go and pee the beautiful, closely pinched, pyramidal 

 Cherry trees in Mr. Rivers's grounds at Sawbridgeworth. 

 They are as near perfection as any trees I have ever seen. 

 — Ahchambaud. 



ASPECTS OF SPRING GARDENING.— No. 2. 



The materials forming my first floral picture were taken 

 from the neighbourliood of Southampton : from that neigh- 

 bourhood shall also be drawn the ingredients of my second 

 illustration. On this occasion the west side of that im- 

 portant town gives the place— namely Crabwood, the resi- 

 dence of Rolles Driver, Ksq. The situation and surroimd • 

 ings of the two places difler materially. In the case of 

 ofen E\-re it is a secluded sheltered spot, away from tho 

 " busy haunts of men," and sacred to repose, quiet, and 

 privacy ; the second stands close to a niuch-frequent«d 

 highway, open to almost every point of the compass, espe- 

 cially to the blustering west, whence come at their ap- 

 pointed times sweeping gales from across the Solent Sea 

 and Southampton Water' which test severely the hardiness 

 of many plants, and sometimes the floral artist is doomed 

 to see the labours of his head and Imnds wrecked before 

 the fury of the raging blast. Such a spot as this can bo 

 taken as furnishing a safe testimony as to the adaptability 

 of spring gardening as at present carried out for general 

 application. 



Crabwood may be taken as representing one of those 

 plain and unpretending, yet snug and comfortable places, 

 that are the abodes of country gentlemen. There is about 

 it an entire absence of tlie handsome terrace gardens, the 



No. 1079.— Vol. XLI., Old Serus. 



