66 CORDON TRAINING. 



ous and so cheap as to make this objection futile ; for as long 

 as half-a-dozen trees in pots can supply a reserve, nothing 

 further need in reality be urged. Still it must be added, 

 that if excessive production be the cause of the destruction 

 of the trees after a certain number of years, then this is by 

 no means an unpleasant occurrence, for the fact is, that they 

 at present bear very little in proportion to the time and labor 

 devoted to them. But how long it will take to exhaust the 

 trees is not confidently stated by any one ; and for this excel- 

 lent reason, that no trees have as yet been exhausted after 

 fifteen years' trial, nor are any cases likely to occur for a 

 longer time. 



When we consider the "fast habits" of the present day, it 

 would seem strange if trees did not partake of the general 

 rapidity of circulation; and no doubt a "fast nectarine" has 

 good cause to look back at its "slow but not sure" rivals toil- 

 ing painfully up the walls. 



In the case, too, of horizontal Cordons and standard pear 

 trees this objection does not apply, for these are the slowest 

 portions of the system, and by no means the most productive. 



Put the next objection is of a widely different character. 

 Now it is argued that the sap of the tree, far from exhausting 

 the whole, will, by being kept within undue bounds, act with 

 such vigor on the shoots, that they must become elongated 

 or wood shoots, and bear no fruit, especially in our moist 

 climates. 



To this it is answered, that in the dry atmosphere of the 

 orchard-house no such result need be apprehended ; while in 

 the case of trees in the open ground against walls, the growth 

 of the leaders depends mainly on the powers of the roots, and 

 these are greatly checked in their lateral expansion by the 

 nearness of their neighbors. At the most, thirty-six inches 

 is but a limited space for roots of trees to expand laterally. 

 Again, root pruning, or annual lifting, is quite as easy of ap- 

 plication to any cordon tree as it is to other trees; nay, easier, 

 for many reasons. 



