146 FRUIT GARDEN. 



trees arc trained for some years to the cup-shape, the 

 table, the pyramidal, or the bulb forms, before they be 

 sold to the public, the trees are repeatedly transplant- 

 ed ; but with us, where such forms are less sought after, 

 the utility of more transplantations than from the seed- 

 bed to the nursery-lines, and thence to the garden, 

 may, in Mr. Knight's opinion, be questioned. Any 

 common soil, provided the subsoil be dry, suits the 

 apple-tree. Shallow planting should, in all cases, be 

 practiced, and young trees should be carefully staked, 

 to prevent wind-waving. 



The fruit, as in the pear-tree, is produced on spurs, 

 which come out on the branchlets of two or more years' 

 growth, and continue fertile for a series of years. There 

 is, therefore, no very material difference in the pruning 

 and training of the pear and of the apple-tree. On walls, 

 the horizontal mode of training is commonly follawed, as 

 best calculated to repress the too vigorous growth of the 

 tree ; but for the nonpareil, and other twiggy varieties, 

 perhaps the fanform, or some modification of the fan 

 form, is preferable. For standards, where the soil is 

 rich and the growth rapid, all that is necessary in prun- 

 ing is to thin out the branches, and to prevent their 

 crossing and rubbing against each other. Where there 

 is little luxuriance, as in the case of all dwarfs, it is 

 useful to shorten the branches occasionally, and to re- 

 move useless twigs. Dwarfs on paradise stocks may be 

 treated almost like- currant.-bushes; that is, making 

 them open in the centre, or cup-shaped, to the great 

 advantage both of the size and beauty of > the fruit. 

 The general winter pruning may take .place any time 

 from the beginning of November to the beginning of 

 March. After the winter pruning, same cultivators de- 



