16 CORDON TRAINING. 



It is best to have more than one pruning knife, for peach 

 pruning demands a sharp-pointed instrument. 



To save time, a pair of strong pruning scissors is very con- 

 venient. With scissors the work is very rapidly done ; there 

 is nevertheless this disadvantage in their use, that they must 

 be kept very sharp, or the buds will be quite torn away. 

 Besides, it is impossible to cut very near to the buds, so that 

 at the winter priming another clean cut must be made with a 

 sharp knife nearer to the part selected. 



These cuts must always be made " at one draw" (as gar- 

 deners say), for the sake of appearance, and that the wounds 

 may heal more rapidly. 



CHAP. IV. 



DEFECTS OF SOME METHODS OF FRUIT CULTURE. 



No doubt the climate of our country has many faults to 

 answer for; its severe spring frosts are indefensible ; its vicis- 

 situdes are highly reprehensible ; and as to its autumnal 

 gales, which shake off the hopes of the season prior to their 

 complete maturity, — if that period ever does occur, according 

 to a noted French authority, — the least a patriot can say in 

 their defence, the better for his truthfulness.* 



But has the art of Horticulture nothing to answer for? 

 It is true we can point to noble examples, such as Lindley, 

 Rivers, Thompson, Knight, or Duhamel,yan Mons, and many 

 others ; but it is when gardening is practised by men of mod- 

 erate incomes that we are astonished at its mediocre results. 

 The chief reason is, that the lower class of hired gardeners 

 is often ignorant, prejudiced, and traditional in a wonderful 

 degree. But so widely spread is the love of gardening, that 



[* Willi this honest confession, seldom admitted, our American cultivators can 

 duly appreciate the enthusiasm in orchard culture in Great Britain — an actual 

 necessity — and not, as with us, auxiliary to the production of the best fruit. — c. M. 



H.] 



