AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



517 



horizontally as they grow. See Fig. 315 a, a. These are all 

 shortened at the winter pruning, as also shown in Fig. 315, 

 each shoot being kept about the length of one year's pruned 

 growth behind its predecessor. 



Fig. 315. 



Young horizontal-trained tree with its second year's growth shown as cut back at the 

 winter pruning, ft, 6, b, b. Spurs with their bunches of blossom buds. 



This process, like that of fan-training, with similar care in 

 respect to summer pruning, is continued from year to year un- 

 til the tree attains its full size (Fig. 316), after which it is 

 simply limited to its appropriate . space, and permitted annu- 

 ally to renew by its growth the wastage of its winter pruning. 



Under skillful treatment its branches will become studded 

 in the fall with "spurs," which are short stiff shoots from 

 half an inch to four inches long, ending in bunches of full 

 rounded "blossom buds" (Fig. 315 &), the ordinary growth or 

 leaf buds being of a more pointed form. Upon these spurs, or 

 from buds set immediately upon the branches (Fig. 316), its 

 burden of fruit will be annually produced, but special care is 

 required in the pruning and general management of trained 

 trees to secure regularly upon them a full but not excessive 

 annual crop of fruit. 



The directions given above for regulating the growth and 

 training of the trees are not to be considered absolute ; the ar- 

 rangement may be changed or inverted at the pleasure of the 



