TRAINING. 813 



plantations. It is equally so in plantations of shrubs, especially flower- 

 ing shrubs, where the object is to show the individual character of the 

 shrub, and also the beauty of its blossoms and fruit. Every tree and 

 shrub has two characters, both of which are natural to it ; the one 

 when it grows up in a mass of other trees or shrubs of the same kind, 

 or of other kinds, and the other when it grows up singly. In the 

 former case the stem or stems are always straight and comparatively 

 free from branches to some height, while in the latter it is generally 

 clothed with branches from the ground, or a short distance above it, 

 upwards. The thinning, therefore, of an ornamental plantation will 

 depend on the natural character to be imitated. An open grove where 

 the trees have clear trunks to half or two-thirds of their height, affords 

 a delightful retreat for walking in in the hottest weather of summer ; 

 and this is also the case with an avenue where the trees have been 

 properly thinned and pruned to the height of fifteen or twenty feet ; 

 while a lawn studded with trees and shrubs singly or in small groups, 

 and with their lower branches resting on the ground, affords views 

 from a gravel-walk or a drawing-room window peculiarly charac- 

 teristic of an English pleasure-ground. 



Training. 



To train a plant is to support or conduct its stem and branches in 

 some form or position, either natural or artificial, for purposes of use 

 or ornament. It is effected partly by pruning and thinning, but 

 chiefly by pegging down to the ground, tying and fastening to rods, 

 stakes, or trellises, or nailing to walls. The articles more imme- 

 diately required are hooked pegs, ties, nails, and lists, wire-netting, 

 with props of various kinds, arched espaliers, and ladders. 



The principles upon which training is founded vary according to the 

 object in view, but they all depend more or less on these facts : that 

 the sap of a plant is always impelled with the greatest force to its 

 highest point ; that, in general, whatever promotes this tendency en- 

 courages the production of leaves and shoots, and whatever represses 

 it, promotes the formation of blossom-buds. When a plant is to be 

 trained over the surface of the ground, it must be borne in mind that, 

 as the tendency of the sap is always to the highest bud, the shoots 

 pegged down should be allowed to turn up at the points, in order to 

 promote their extension. When the object is to induce blossoms or 

 fruitfulness, a contrary practice should be followed, and the points of 

 the shoots kept down, or in the case of upright-grown plants, trained 

 horizontally, or even in a downward direction. This should also 

 be done when the object is to restrain over -luxuriance, and a contrary 

 practice when a weak or sickly plant or tree is to be invigorated. 

 When the object is to economize space, the plants are trained against 

 a trellis, as occupying length, but very little breadth ; and when it is 

 to increase temperature, they are trained or spread out against a 

 wall, which prevents the conduction of heat and moisture from the 

 branches, by acting as a screen against winds ; and increases heat by 



