52 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



things being equal, obtain a more copious supply of sap 

 than one that is laid- out horizontally, or is deflected 

 dDwnwards. A luxuriant shoot may be retarded for 

 some time, by having its tender extremity pinched off, 

 and a weaker brother thus allowed to overtake it. By 

 these and other expedients, which will suggest them- 

 selves to an attentive horticulturist, and by the prudent 

 use of theknife, it will be easy to execute the following 

 forms, which, on account of their simplicity and general 

 excellence, w^e select out of many to be found detailed 

 in works on gardening. 



The liorizontal farm (Fig. 6) has long been a favor- 

 ite in this country, having been strongly recommended 

 in the excellent work of Mr. Hitt.* There is one 

 principal ascending stem, from which the branches 

 dfepart -at right-angles, at intervals often inches or a foot. 

 In order to produce this form, the vertical shoot is, in 



Fig. 6. 



trees of ordinary vigor, cut back every winter to within 

 fourteen inches of the highest pair of branches ; a num- 



^ Treatise on Fruit-Trees^ by Thomas Hitt. .8yo. 1756. 



