40 THE MINIATURE FRUIT GARDEN. 



decayed manure, which will be all the culture 

 required. 



ESPALIER PEAKS ON QUINCE STOCKS. 



Pears on the quince may be cultivated as horizontal 

 espaliers or cordons by the sides of walks, or trained 

 to lofty walls with much advantage, as less space 

 is required. Horizontal espaliers, or wall trees, on 

 the pear stock, trained to walls of the usual height 

 i. e.j from ten to twelve feet require to be planted 

 twenty feet apart, while those on the quince may 

 be planted only ten feet apart ; this in a small 

 garden will allow of much greater variety of sorts to 

 supply the table at different seasons. With these the 

 same high culture, if perfection be wished for, must 

 be followed ; the trees carefully planted, so that the 

 junction of the graft with the stock is even with the 

 surface of the mound formed as directed for pyramids. 

 The pruning of wall pear trees has always been a 

 subject of controversy with gardeners, as they are 

 inclined to grow too vigorously. If it be thought 

 desirable to have trees of large growth, so as to 

 cover a high wall, and yet be highly fertile, it is much 

 better to root-prune than to prune the branches. 

 With such trees it need not be done so severely : 

 biennial root-pruning will be quite sufficient, com- 

 mencing at eighteen inches from the wall, after the 

 tree has had two seasons' growth, cutting off the ends 

 of all the roots at that distance from the wall, and in- 

 creasing it by six inches at every biennial pruning, 

 till a distance of six feet from the wall is reached. 

 When this is the case, the roots must be confined 



