60 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



at Hopetoun-House, and practiced by him with great suc- 

 cess. It is nearly allied to the horizontal form, but the 

 branches form an acute angle with the stem, and this dispo- 

 sition is supposed to favor the equal distribution of the sap. 

 In the winter pruning, three and sometimes four central 

 branches are cut back; the shoots which arise from these 

 are arranged in the fan order, and, as they elongate, are 

 gradually brought into the horizontal position. The tree 

 is finished at top as in the horizontal form. Sometimes, as 

 in Fig. 10, two vertical stems are adopted. For vigorous 

 trees, this figure seems to combine the advantages of both 

 the foregoing varieties. 



Fig. 10. 



The choice of particular modes of training is too often 

 determined by mere fashionable prejudice, which leads to 

 the application of the same form to all sorts of trees. 

 Thus the French are apt to reduce everything to the fan 

 system, while some English horticulturists are inclined to 

 force trees of the most rambling growth into the pillory of a 

 horizontal arrangement. Such a uniformity cannot possi- 

 bly be in accordance with nature. The enlightened culti- 

 vator will employ various forms, and will determine for 



