JAN.] THE FRUIT GARDEN. 19 



a number of strong wood-shoots. This plainly shows, that the 

 shoots which are intended for fruit-bearing must not be generally 

 shortened ; for if that is practised, the trees would constantly run to 

 wood, and never produce any tolerable crop of fruit. 



If, indeed, there is a want of wood in any part of these trees, then 

 the occasional shortening of some of the adjacent young shoots may 

 be necessary, whereby to promote a production of laterals the ensu- 

 ing summer to furnish the vacancy. 



For instance, if there is any vacant part in the tree, and two, 

 three, or more shoots, are requisite to furnish that vacancy, and 

 only one shoot was produced in that part the preceding summer, 

 that shoot, in such a case/being now shortened to four or five buds, 

 it, if strong, will produce three or four lateral shoots the summer 

 following. 



Pruning Plums and Cherries. 



This is also a proper season to prune plums and cherries, either 

 against walls or espaliers, especially where the weather is mild. 



Let it be observed, in the pruning of these trees against walls or 

 espaliers, that, like the apples and pears, they being of the spur- 

 bearing kind, producing the fruit upon short natural spurs or studs, 

 emitted along the sides of the branches, or from two or three to 

 many years old, so must accordingly retain the same branches many 

 years for bearers, which must not be shortened in the course of 

 pruning, but trained horizontally at their full length, about three or 

 four to five or six inches asunder ; also all young shoots of the last 

 year's growth, as are now proper to be reserved in vacancies, to fur- 

 nish the wall or espalier with bearing wood, must not be shortened ; 

 but every such shoot or branch must be left entire ; and this should 

 at all times be observed, which is the only certain method whereby 

 to render the branches fruitful. 



In the operation of pruning these trees, observe, as advised for 

 the apple and pear trees, to give proper attention both in any young 

 trees still under training, and in the fully-trained older trees fur- 

 nished with the requisite expansion of branches. 



Observing, in the former, i. e. the young trees under training, 

 that where further supplies of branches are required in order to 

 form a proper expansion of bearers trained in regularity, should 

 be careful to leave some best well-placed young shoots for that 

 purpose ; and cut out the improper and unnecessary, such as fore- 

 right and other irregular placed growths ; or also any superfluous 

 or over-abundant shoots, that may occur in particular parts of the 

 trees; retaining the reserved proper shoots mostly at their full 

 length, for training as above ; and they will thus, in from one to 

 two or three years' growth, furnish natural fruit-spurs for bearing ; 

 but generally sooner in the cherries than the plums, as some sort 

 of cherries will probably bear fruit the same year, on the young 

 shoots now trained in : the morella in particular bears mostly on 

 the one-year-old shoots. For observations thereon. ...see November. 



And in the full-trained trees of the above sorts, look carefully 

 over the general expansion ; and where any occasional supply of 



