262 



PRUNING. 



den, fail. The fruit is of superior quality, and ripens 

 considerably earlier than that on trees in open ground. 

 On the 8th of August last, 1871, we picked from it Hale's 

 Early, nine inches in circumference. 



The Peach as an Espalier trained on a wall or trellis. 

 There are a multitude of forms for espalier trees where 

 training on walls or trellises is necessarily and extensively 

 practiced, as in England and France. The great requisites 

 in a wall tree are, first, to have all the wall covered ; and, 

 second, to have the different parts of the tree alike favor- 

 ably placed, with reference to its growth. Next to these 

 are simplicity and naturalness. 



The most popular form in England is that called the fan 



Fig. 123. FAN-SHAPED ESPALIER. 



(fig. 123). In it the branches are spread out so as to re- 

 semble a fan ; the lower ones are nearly or quite hori- 

 zontal ; the next more oblique ; and so they proceed until 

 the center ones are quite upright, and this appears to be 

 the defect of this form ; for the horizontal branches can 

 not maintain such a visror as those more erect above them. 

 The square espalier, invented by M. Felix Malo, of 

 France, and now extensively practiced by some of the 

 best peach-growers of the celebrated town of Montreuil, 

 seems to possess more advantages, all in all, than any 

 other. The Bon Jardinier, from which the following 

 description of the method of conducting these trees is 



