Chap. XVIII.] THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT-GROWING. 281 



term, but prevent the inventor's simple idea from being under- 

 stood. However, the figures in this chapter i , _ 

 will give a correct idea of what the cordon | 

 system is. | 



A simple galvanised wire is attached to a 

 strong oak post or rod of iron, so firmly fixed 

 that the strain of the wire may not disturb 

 it. The wire is usually supported at a distance 

 of one foot from the ground, and tightened 

 by a raidisseur, a handy little implement de- 

 scribed elsewhere in this volume. A raidisseur 

 will tighten several hundred feet of the wire, 

 which need not be thicker than strong twine, 

 and of the same sort as that recommended 

 for walls and espaliers. The galvanised wire 

 known as No. 14 is the most suitable for general 

 use. At intervals a support of wood or iron 

 with an eye in it is placed under the wire on -^r 

 which the tree is trained; thus forming the 

 simplest and best kind of cordon, and the one 

 so extensively employed for making edgings 

 around the squares in fruit- gardens. 



By selecting good kinds and training them 

 in this way abundance of the finest fruit may 

 be grown without having any of the large trees 

 or those of any other form in the garden to 

 shade or occupy its surface. The bilateral 

 cordon is useful for the same purposes as the 

 simple one, and especially adapted to the bottoms 

 of walls, bare spaces between the fruit-trees, 

 the fronts of pits, or any low bare wall with a 

 warm exposure. As in many cases the lower 

 parts of walls in gardens are quite bare, this 

 form of cordon offers an opportunity for cover- 

 ing them with what will yield a certain and 

 valuable return. It is by this method that 

 the finest-coloured, largest, and best French 

 apples sold in Covent Garden and in the Paris 

 fruit-shops at such high prices are grown. In Covent Garden 



