256 GARDENING. 



tal, and subsequently to train them upward, paral- 

 lel to each other, as high as the top of the wall, and 

 directly against its side, to which, throughout their 

 whole length, they are to be securely fastened by 

 woollen straps ; and, lastly, to encourage side-shoots 

 from these leaders, so as to fill up with bearing wood 

 the intermediate space between them, and such ex- 

 terior space on the wall as may be thought proper 

 and practicable. To this form is given the techni- 

 cal name of the Wavy or Curvilinear Fan; and it is 

 obvious that, in preserving as well as in producing 

 it, the use of the knife cannot be dispensed with. 

 Be careful, therefore, in May and June, and occa- 

 sionally in the succeeding months, to remove water 

 shoots, and all ill-placed, redundant, or diseased 

 buds; and again, at the fall of the leaf, to cut away 

 with a sharp knife, and close to the branches on 

 which they grow, such new shoots as will not read- 

 ily accommodate themselves to your design, or as 

 may be unnecessary to it, and also all such old wood 

 as may be useless or troublesome.* 



The general rules for thinning leaves and fruit 

 (prescribed under a preceding article) must be care- 

 fully observed in the treatment of peach-trees and 

 nectarines, as they are known to have an uncom- 

 mon degree of proneness to overbearing, and as the 

 discipline we recommend will, besides giving an 

 improved fruit, tend directly and greatly to fortify 



* Knight's method of pruning, in "high, cold, and wetsitiia- 

 tions," and by which he secures good crops when even the sea- 

 son is unpropitious, may be found useful in our climate. " In- 

 stead," he says, " of taking off a large portion of the young 

 shoots in the spring, and training a few only to a considerable 

 length, as is the general practice, I retain a large number of the 

 shoots, and pinch off the minute and succulent points to the 

 length of one or two inches. By these means I obtain spurs 

 which lie close to the wall, and give as strong and vigorous blos- 

 soms, in even cold and wet situations and weather, as are pro- 

 duced by the old method under circumstances the most favour- 

 able." Encyclopaedia of Gardening, p. 456. 



