20 CORDON TRAINING. 



The pear also requires a good deep soil, but not 

 retentive of moisture. Leaf mould (very old 

 manure), but not near the roots : loam and sand 

 together form an excellent compost. Moor earth 

 near rivers must be well drained in heaps, and a 

 little unslaked lime added to correct it. If the 

 soil be too heavy in any case, powdered char- 

 coal, or burnt earth, are the usual palliatives. 



The apple (which unfortunately is generally 

 considered fit for any situation) prefers, on the 

 contrary, a rather drier soil than the pear, and 

 if in rather a gravelly spot, so much the better. 

 Canker proceeds from neglect of this, a fertile 

 source of discussion. The unwholesome sub-soil 

 supplies vitiated food to the spongioles, and the 

 sap thus corrupted breaks out at the weakest 

 portion of the bark. Sometimes, however, the 

 conjuncture of a sudden excess of pruning is the 

 cause of this fatal disease, as it is of gum in other 

 trees. Therefore, in weak trees, especially in 

 the tender apricot, do not prune all the tree at 

 / one single time. On a due attention to the soil 

 proper for each variety depends, in a very great 

 s measure, the success of the whole matter. No 

 expense or care bestowed in this way, nor atten- 

 tion to these details, can ever be thrown away. 



There is no doubt that pruning, during the 

 summer months, is too much neglected. There 

 are so many demands upon the precious hours at 

 this period, that this indispensable act has not 



