100 CORDON TRAINING. 



to look back at its (f slow but not sure" rivals 

 toiling painfully up the walls. 



In the case, too, of horizontal Cordons and 

 standard pear trees this objection does not apply, 

 for these are the slowest portions of the system, 

 and by no means the most productive. 



But the next objection is of a widely different 

 character. Now it is argued that the sap of the 

 tree, far from exhausting the whole, will, by 

 being kept within undue bounds, act with such 

 vigour on the shoots, that they must become 

 elongated or wood shoots, and bear no fruit, 

 especially in our moist climates. 



To this it is answered, that in the dry atmo- 

 sphere of the Orchard-house no such result need 

 be apprehended ; while in the case of trees in the 

 open ground against walls the growth of the 

 leaders depends mainly on the powers of the roots, 

 and these are greatly checked in their lateral 

 expansion by the nearness of their neighbours. 

 At the most, thirty-six inches is but a limited 

 space for roots of trees to expand laterally. 

 Again, root pruning, or annual lifting, is quite 

 as easy of application to any cordon tree as 

 it is to other trees ; nay, easier, for many 

 reasons. 



Besides, any gardener knows, that by allowing 

 a foot or two of the leaders to grow beyond the 

 wall, and thus exhaust the superabundant sap by 

 gradually bending these downwards, and short- 



