94 RECOVERY OF ESPALIERS. 



set, and consequently at double the expence of 

 timber. 



It might be worth while, as an interesting ex- 

 periment, to construct the rails, or some portion of 

 them, after the manner of a Venetian blind, but 

 having the boards, one for each branch, broader 

 and farther distant; and set to a proper slope, 

 meeting the sun's rays so as to give the espalier 

 nearly the full benefit of a wall, together with a 

 greater freedom from mildew and troublesome in- 

 sects. The boards thus placed above one another 

 would, except the uppermost, cut off the descent 

 of silent hoarfrost, and protect the blossom; and if 

 painted of a dark colour, they would not fail to 

 cause a considerable increase of temperature, and 

 might last for twenty years. 



Supposing that you have succeeded to a garden 

 in which the espalier rows are already complete 

 with full grown trees, but which prove very unpro- 

 ductive and unpromising, the question will be, 

 whether to cut down with a view to replant, or to 

 attempt some mode of renovation similar to that 

 proposed, under like circumstances, for the wall de- 

 partment. First see whether the fault lies in the 

 soil or in the training; if in the former, nothing 

 will do but uprooting if in the latter, a reforma- 

 tion may be easily effected. If canker appear 

 both on the old and young wood, there is no room 

 for hesitation; the tree so affected cannot be too 

 soon removed ; but if the young shoots be healthy, 

 and if the spots of canker be confined to the stem, 



