PACKING, PRUNING, PROTECTION, ETC. S5 



branch, we should prune to a vigorous wood-bud, and leave no pro- 

 duction that can interfere with the action of the sap on it. 



4. " The more the sap w obstructed in its circulation, the more 

 likely it loill be to produce fruit buds. This principle is founded on 

 a fact to which we have already had occasion to refer, viz. — that the 

 sap circulating slowly is subjected to a more complete elaboration 

 in the tissues of the tree, and becomes bettei adapted to the forma- 

 tion of fruit buds. 



"This principle can be applied to produce the following result : 

 when we wish to produce fruit buds on a branch, we prevent a free 

 circulation of the sap by bending the branches, or by making annular 

 or circular incisions on it; and on the contrary, when we wish to 

 change a fruit branch into a wood branch, we give it a vertical posi- 

 tion, or prune it to two or three buds, on which we concentrate 

 the action of the sap and thus induce their vigorous development. 



5. ''^ The leaves serve to j^repare the sap absoibed by the roots for 

 the nourishment of the tree, and aid the formation of buds oi the 

 shoots. All trees, therefore, depriccd of their leaves ore liable to 

 ■perish. This principle shows how dangerous it is to remove a large 

 quantity of leaves from trees, under the pretext of aiding the growth 

 or ripening of fruits, for the leaves are the nourishing organs, and 

 the trees deprived of them cannot continue to grow, neither can the 

 fruit ; and the branches so stripped will have feeble, ill-formed 

 buds, which will, the following year, produce a weak and sickly 

 growth. 



6. " Where the buds of any shoot or branch do not develop before 

 the age of two years., they can only be forced into activi.'y by a very 

 close pruning., and in some cases as (he peach, this even will often fail. 

 This last principle shows the importance of pruning the main branches 

 of espaliers particularly, so as to ensure the development of the 

 buds of their successive sections, and to preserve well the side shoots 

 thus produced, for without this, the interior of the tree will become 

 naked and unproductive, and a remedy will be very difficult." 



"If these principles and practices of pruning be carefully studied 

 in connection with the habits of growth and bearing of the different 

 fruit trees, pruning will be comparatively an easy matter. The 

 mode of obtaining any particular form or character cannot I'ail to be 

 perfectly plain and simple ; yet no one need hope to accomplish, in 

 all things, the precise results aimed at, for even the most skilful 

 operator is sometimes disappointed; but those who give constant 

 attention to their trees, will always discover a failure in time to 

 apply a remedy." 



Training. We give the accompanying fig. 22. taken from 

 "Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Gardening" merely as illustrative of 

 the varied modes of training trees in England. Our more favored 



