APPLES PRUNING. 2g 



Other Forms of Trees. Apple trees are shaped and trained in various other ways 

 besides the foregoing. They will, however, be found modifications only, and, as a rule, 

 offer no material advantage. Exception may be taken to trees that grow too luxuriantly : 

 then pendulous or downward training may induce fruit-fulness ; also trees that grow 

 weakly may produce finer fruit by training the branches upright. The Palmetto Vcrrier, 

 or a combination of both the horizontal and vertical forms of training, originated with 

 the French, and is considered to offer certain advantages over horizontal training. This 

 and other modifications of fan and horizontal training will receive attention under some 

 other fruits. "We would, however, impress on all cultivators that the secret of fruit- 

 fulness is not to be found in fanciful systems of training, but at the roots of trees, with 

 the thin disposal of their branches. Expedients in training are of little avail where 

 the more important points of selecting stocks, root management, and correct methods of 

 pruning are ignored. 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF APPLES. 



Pruning. Manipulations require to be performed according to the individual con- 

 dition of the trees as influenced by soil, climate, space, and mode of culture. Growers 

 should study the trees they cultivate. Some trees naturally grow compactly, whilst 

 others that grow rampantly are made sturdy by firm soil, also summer and root pruning, 

 and it should be borne in mind that pruning always produces certain effects, namely 

 1, close pruning in winter induces growth; 2, judicious summer pruning causes the 

 tree to throw out spurs and blossom-buds; 3, root-pruning arrests growth and pro- 

 motes fruitfulness ; 4, thinning crowded spurs and blossom-buds favours a good set of 

 fruit. Prune in winter for wood ; prune in summer intelligently for fruit. Some apples 

 bear at the tips of the branches, such as Ashmead's Kernel, Cornish Gilliflower, Golden 

 Noble, Harvey's Wiltshire Defiance, Russian Transparent, Irish Peach, Northern Spy, 

 and Yorkshire Beauty. Prune such sparingly, thinning the growths preferably to 

 shortening them, unless interfering with the symmetry and strength of the tree. 



The essential pruning a tree requires depends, other conditions being favourable, 

 on the mode of culture. This is given under the different forms of trees, and these are 

 what is termed 1, restrictive ; 2, extension. The restrictive system comprises trees 

 trained in pyramid, bush, goblet, fan, horizontal, upright, and cordon form. The 

 summer pruning of these forms of trees is given in Vol. I., pages 163-165, illustrations, 

 page 164 ; winter pruning, pages 169, 170; pruning spurs, pages 170-172, illustration, 



