138 



ox A METHOD OF TRAINING FRUIT TREES. 



ed by any other method of training; and 

 the growth of the trees was so great from 

 this arrangement that some of them at 

 two years old were fifteen feet wide, and_ 

 the young acquired in every part the 

 most perfect maturity. In the succeed- 

 ing winter the shoots of the last season 

 were alternately shortened and left their 

 whole length, and were then prepared to 

 afford an abundant and regular blossom 

 in the succeeding spring. In theautunm 

 of the third year the shoots of the inter- 

 nal branches were trained backwards from 

 the original shoots so that the central part 

 of each tree was formed of fine bearing 

 wood; and the size and general health of 

 the trees afforded evidence of a more re- 

 gular distribution of the sap than Mr. 

 Knight had witnessed in any other mode 

 of training. 



It is remarked, tliat in this method of 

 pruning, little use was made of the knife 

 during the winter; and, Mr. Knight con- 

 ceives that winter pruning should be 

 avoided as much as possible, for the only 

 advantage gained by laying in a larger 

 quantity of wood in the summer and au- 

 tumn, than will be wanted in the spring, 

 is the choice of good shoots, and there is 

 no advantage in having more than are 

 wanted; whereas the health of the tree 

 always suffers by too much use of the 

 knife through successive seasons. 



As entering into the details of pruning 

 an the most advantageous manner would 

 lead him beyond his intended limits, he 

 merely avails himself of the opportunity 

 to offer a few observations on the proper 

 treatment of luxuriant shoots of the 

 peach-tree; a subject not understood by 

 either English or foreign writers on 

 gardening. 



Referring to a paper, communicated 

 by him to the Royal Society, on the 

 Alburnum or sap of trees, he conceives 

 that the facts detailed there afford suffi- 

 cient evidence that the Alburnum of 

 trees becomes, during winter, a reservoir 

 of the sap or blood of the tree, as the 

 bulb of the hyacinth, tulip, and potatoe, 

 certainly do of the sap or blood of those 

 plants. Now, a wall tree, from the 

 advantageous position of its leaves, pro- 

 bably generates more sap than a standard 



tree of the same size, so that the gardener 

 is compelled to destroy a large portion of 

 the succulent shoots; the sap in conse- 

 quence stagnates, and appears to choke 

 tiie passages through the small branches, 

 which consequently becomes incurably 

 unhealthy and stunted in their growth, ' 

 and nature affords means of relief by dis- 

 tributing the sap in the production of 

 luxuriant shoots. These shoots, all hor- 

 ticultural writers have directed to be 

 shortened in summer, but Mr. Knight, 

 has found great advantages in leaving 

 them unshortened, as they have uniformly 

 produced the finest possible bearing wood 

 for the succeeding year, arid that the 

 laterals from these shoots, if stopped at 

 the first leaf, will often afford strong 

 blossoms and fine fruit, the succeding sea- 

 son. He thinks that a luxuriant shoot 

 should rarely or never be cut out or 

 shortened, where space for training it can 

 be found, but it should never be trained 

 in a perpendicular direction. 



Observations. — The intimate know- 

 ledge which this writer possesses of the 

 operations of nature in the vegetable crea- 

 tion, entitles all his suggestions on horti- 

 cultural subjects to the greatest attention. 

 The mode of pruning recommended in 

 this paper, appears to possess all the 

 advantages attributed to it, besides that 

 of bringing a fruit-tree into a bearing 

 state one or two years earlier than by the 

 common method. For the propriety of 

 the treatment recommended for the luxu- 

 riant shoots of the peach-tree, we can 

 offer our own experience for six or seven 

 seasons, and the result has uniformly 

 been, that the trees not only ceased to 

 produce such shoots (whereas they had 

 only been multiplied by amputation,) but 

 have continued to produce fine healthy 

 bearing wood, and a profusion of blossom 

 and fruit. As soonasany branch assumes 

 a more luxuriant appearance than its 

 neighbors it should be trained if possible 

 below a horizontal position. 



Note. — If fruit trees were trained suffi- 

 ciently near the ground so as to be cover- 

 ed with straw during winter, they 

 might by these means be guarded from 

 extreme cold, which would otherwise kill 

 them . 



