44 COKDON TRAINING. 



meet it. It must be in front, because the wound 

 is thus far less difficult to hide. This is of 

 great importance in Cordon training. If you 

 must cut to a side bud, then you have no very 

 straight stem after all the care bestowed on the 

 rest. There must be no unhealthy wood near the 

 leading bud. How often, by neglecting this 

 simple rule, has the trouble of years been wasted ! 

 Cut, sloping upwards at a gentle angle, till you 

 get to about an eighth of an inch above the bud. 

 The trees are then well tied to the wall ; the young 

 laterals are brought forward on either side neatly, 

 and the back shoots are generally cut in to one or 

 two buds ; for if you cut them off there will be 

 no reserve to supply accident. Sharply cut back 

 these slender laterals to two eyes or buds. At 

 this stage these are small, therefore be in no hurry 

 to cut them off. Then the forerights are to be 

 similarly treated, i.e. cut back to two buds, and 

 the trees are ready. If the wall has wires or 

 rails, these must be at 12 inches of interval. Then 

 a light guiding rod is tied above the end of the 

 leading branch in order to direct the future young 

 wood. Prepare and place this at the winter ar- 

 rangements. Water freely for some weeks. No 

 wall under 11 or 12 feet high is eligible for 

 Cordon training. If in the open ground it should 

 have a good coping of one or two feet to ward off 

 the drenching rains. If, as was said before, you 

 do not immediately require the trees, or have not 



