TRAINING. 329 



four side shoots, and six or more laterals, as at c. In the following 

 spring, the laterals, d, which had been nailed to the wall, are loosened 

 and tied to their main shoot, as at e, and the upright shoot or main 

 leader shortened to three buds, as at /, or if the tree be very vigorous, 

 to five buds. At the end of the third summer, the number of laterals 



Fig. 288. 



Seymour's fan-training, progressive stages, 



will be doubled on the two lower branches, as shown in fig. 289 : a 

 new lateral having sprung from the base of the one tied in, as at y, 

 and another from its extremity, as at A. In the pruning of the spring 

 of the fourth year, the original laterals, now of two years' growth, 

 which had borne fruit, are cut off close to the branch, and the young 



Fig. 289. 



Seymour's fan-training, third stage, in summer. 



laterals which had sprung from their base are loosened from the wall, 

 and tied down to succeed them, as at fig. 290, t. The other laterals 

 produced are tied in, as at &, and the upright shoots shortened, as at /, 

 as beforg. This method of pruning and training the peach, its author, 

 Mr. John Seymour, describes as truly systematical, as all the principal 

 leading shoots are trained by a line stretched from the setting on or 

 origin of the shoot to beyond its extreme length, and the distance of 

 the leading shoots from one another is regulated by a semicircular 

 line, at about ten feet from the stem, as shown in fig. 291. On this 



