54 CORDON TRAINING. 



much to this important end. Then, higher up, 

 appear the third and the fourth growths, the for- 

 mer having a neat little lateral, which is far more 

 likely to be fruitful than a powerful shoot. These 

 latter shoots, called " gourmands" by the French, 

 were the bane of the old systems, and do what 

 you would, if on the upper side they always 

 would come. In vain they were cut back ; in 

 vain they were twisted and pinched off; the least 

 neglect produced a vigorous shoot, like a leading 

 branch, just where it should not be. Of course 

 the sap rushed with tenfold violence into these 

 enticing corners, and of course the gardener 

 did not see it, and then, by the winter, the rest 

 of the branch was languid and feeble, and the 

 tree spoilt. But in this system all this is ren- 

 dered nugatory ; there is little or no danger of 

 this occurring. Instead of this giant, we see a 

 neat little fruitful shoot, which, crowned with an 

 appropriate bud, is very like a natural fruit-spur. 

 Leave these alone, and cut down close to them, 

 as seen in Fig. 1. The branch is then, with 

 its short right shoot, ready for wood-bearing or 

 not, as the case requires, and its long left shoot 

 cut for fruit, having a chance thereof at the 

 two triple buds, on the second growth, and on the 

 neat little lateral before so commended. As the 

 nearer wood is the ripest, if the fruit appear on 

 the triple buds below, so much the better ; at 

 any rate there are plenty of chances, because 



