REMARKS APPLICABLE TO FRUIT TREES GENERALLY. 601 



quantity of roots. In the course of a fortnight the uppermost buds on 

 the portion left will have commenced to push, and they must be 

 allowed to go on for a longer or shorter time without stopping, according 

 as there may be more or less danger of the buds at the base being also 

 developed into shoots, instead of remaining in the character of a fruit- 

 bud till next spring. If the roots, and, of course, the tree generally, 

 require to be invigorated, the shoots will not be so numerous, and may 

 be allowed to extend till after midsummer, and then only shortened 

 for a little at first, in order that as much foliage as is consistent with 

 the principles above explained may be left to act. It is a very preva- 

 lent notion that, in the case of an over- vigorous tree, as much wood 

 should be retained, and as many shoots allowed to grow as is pos- 

 sible, in order that its vigour may be moderated by the expenditure. 

 But it must be borne in mind that the more a young tree grows, the 

 more it is capable of growing ; for growth is not a mere evolution of 

 parts already formed, evolved by a determinate amount of expansive 

 power. If ten buds give rise to a hundred others, these last have the 

 power of originating, in the same ratio, one thousand, and so on, as long 

 as force of sap towards new formations is undiminished. But in fruit 

 trees an exhaustive process proceeds simultaneously with growth, and 

 one of the most effectual means of checking excessive vigour is a full 

 crop of fruit. All shoots under half an inch in diameter, cut from the 

 side of a stem before midsummer, will generally heal over the same 

 season. Terminal wounds made by shortening, will not heal over till 

 a shoot has been produced, the base of which will cover the wound. 



The fruit-bearing shoots of all trees, in a natural state, are chiefly 

 such as are lateral, while the wood of the tree is chiefly increased by 

 the vertical shoots ; hence some modification of lateral training 

 will, in almost every case, be found preferable to training vertically. 

 Lateral roots are also those which contribute most to fruit-bearing 

 wood ; and tap or deep-growing roots to upright and barren wood. 

 All restraint imposed on trees, whether by training or root-pruning, 

 if not followed up by art, will speedily end in disfiguring the tree 

 and rendering it unfruitful, till it has assumed its natural form and 

 habit of growth ; and if the tree should be of a species so tender as 

 not to ripen fruit in its natural form as a standard, it will by assuming 

 that form have become useless as a fruit tree. In the case of all trees 

 in a state of culture, and more especially such as grow in soil the 

 surface of which is heated more than that of the general surface of 

 the locality, as is the case of a border exposed to the reverberation 

 of the sun's rays in front of a south wall, artificial supplies of water 

 are necessary at particular seasons, and water therefore must be con- 

 sidered as much an element of culture as manure. Most of the 

 diseases of trees may be effectually prevented or cured by judicious 

 culture ; and all insects which live on the surface of trees, may be 

 destroyed or subdued by abundant washings with clear soot or 

 lime-water by the syringe or engine. All fruit-bearing plants (and 

 indeed all others) grown in pots, ought to be potted in soil which has 

 not been sifted, and which, if not sufficiently coarse to keep it so 



