THE FEUIT GAEDEN. 193 



and the sloe (pruniis SiDinosa) dwarf it, to a still greater 

 extent. Summer pruning and pinching, as well as occa- 

 sional root pruning, are all necessary to check the vigor 

 of most kinds, and keep them in suitable dimensions for 

 small gardens where it is necessary to plant them close. 



The Plum as a Dwarf Standard. — Besides the pyra- 

 mid, this is the only form in which the plum should be 

 admitted in the garden. The dwarf standard, M'ith a 

 trunk two or three feet in height, and a symmetrical 

 round head, is a very pi-etty and appropriate form, and 

 requires less skill and care in the management than the 

 pyramid, and by proper management the trees require 

 but little if any more space. 



The Peach. — The best garden form for the peach is 

 that of the dwarf standard^ wath a trunk eighteen inches 

 to two feet. With proper management, which will here- 

 after be described, this form is easily conducted, even 

 when the trees are on peach stocks. The plum stock, and 

 especially the sorts recommended for dwarf plums, gives 

 trees that are less vigorous and more easily kept in a 

 small space. In nearly all parts of our country the 

 fruit ripens perfectly in the open ground, so that espalier 

 training, as has been remarked, is seldom practised, 

 unless to save ground ; or in northern localities, w'here 

 protection of the buds during winter, or of the blossoms 

 in the spring, is necessary. In such cases alone are 

 espaliers to be recommended, as they require much greater 

 care in pruning and training than in any other fonn. 

 Espalier trees are of various forms, but the /<:m, as it is 

 termed, is the best adapted to the peach. It consists of 

 two main branches or divisions of the stem, spread out in 

 the form of a Y ; each of these bears a certain number, 

 as many as may be necessary to fill the trellis, of second- 

 ary branches, and these furnish the bearing wood. The 

 9 



