290 PRINCIPLES OF GARDENING. [CH. VIII. 



Williams. A new \dgorous variety would exhaust 

 itself, the following year, in the production of fresh 

 wood. Nothing beyond a general rule for the 

 pruning can be laid doMH, and it amounts to no 

 more than the direction to keep a considerable 

 vacancy between every branch, both above and be- 

 neath it; and especially to provide, that not even 

 two twigs shall chafe against each other. The 

 greater the intensity of light, and the freer the 

 circulation of air amongst the foliage of a tree, 

 the better the chance for its healthy vegetation. 



If the disease be in a fiiiit tree, it is probably 

 a premature senility, induced by injudicious ma- 

 nagement, for very few of our varieties are of an 

 age that insure to it decrepitude. I have never 

 yet known a tree, unless it was in the last stage 

 of decay, that could not be recovered by gi^ing it 

 more air and light, by careful heading in, pruning, 

 improvement of the soil, and cleansing the bark. 



If the soil by its ungenial character induces the 

 disease, the obvious and only remedy is its ame- 

 lioration, and if the subsoil be the cause of the mis- 

 chief, the roots must be prevented strildng into it. 

 In all cases, it is the best practice to remove the 

 tap-root. Many orchardists pave beneath each tree 

 with tiles and broken bricks. If the trees are 

 planted shallowly, as they ought to be, and the sur- 

 face of the soil kept duly fertile, there is not much 



