S20 TRAINING. 



weaker shoots to acquire more vigour. Hence also the advantage of 

 training with fixed branches against walls, as compared with training 

 with loose branches in the open garden, when greater fruitfulness is 

 the object. 



2. Upright shoots grow more freely than inclined shoots. There- 

 fore when two shoots of unequal vigour are to be reduced to an 

 equality, the weaker must be elevated and the stronger depressed. 



3. The shoots on the upper side of an inclined branch will always 

 be more luxuriant than those on the lower side ; therefore preserve, at 

 the period of pruning or disbudding, only the strongest shoots below, 

 and only the weakest above. Some have practised the system of only 

 preserving the upper branches and removing the whole of the under 

 ones, with a view of securing uniformity of growth and a maximum of 

 strength. 



4. The lower branches of every tree and shrub decay naturally 

 before the upper branches ; therefore, bestow the principal care on 

 them, whether in dwarf bushes in the open garden, or with trees 

 trained on espaliers or walls. When they are weak, cut them out, and 

 bring down others to supply their place, or turn up their extreme 

 points, which will attract a larger portion of sap to every part of the 

 branch. 



The different modes of training bushes and trees in the open garden 

 are chiefly the conical for tall trees or standards, and some modification 

 of the globe or cylinder for dwarfs. The flat, horizontal, or table form, 

 and the cordon, have also been tried successfully. But it may be 

 remarked that unless these and all other artificial forms are constantly 

 watched to check the tendency to return to nature, they are much 

 better dispensed with. By careful attention, some of these artificial 

 forms will bring trees sooner into a bearing state, and a greater quan- 

 tity of fruit will also be produced in a limited space ; but if the con- 

 tinued care requisite for these objects is withdrawn for two or three 

 years, the growth of the tree, while returning to its natural character, 

 will produce a degree of confusion in the branches that will not be 

 remedied till all the constrained branches have been cut away. 

 Wherever, therefore, fruit is to be grown on a large scale, and in the 

 most economical manner, in orchards or in the open garden, it is found 

 best to let every tree take its natural shape, and confine the pruner and 

 trainer to such operations as do not greatly interfere with it. These 

 are chiefly keeping the tree erect with a straight stem, keeping the head 

 well balanced, and thinning out the branches where they are crowded 

 or cross each other, or become weak or diseased. 



The different modes of training fruit trees against walls or espaliers, 

 may all be reduced to three forms or systems : the fan or palmate 

 form, which is the most natural mode, and that most generally appli- 

 cable ; the horizontal system, which is adapted to trees with strong 

 stems, and of long duration ; and the perpendicular system, which is 

 chiefly adapted to climbers, such as the vine. Trees trained by any 

 of the above modes, against a wall or espalier, are much more under 

 the control of art than can ever be the case with trees or bushes in the 



