118 CORDON TRAINING. 



/ Ventilation is chiefly necessary to carry off noxious 

 'vapours, and it is inconceivable how soon these 

 are generated. A minute quantity of sulphurous 

 acid will cause every leaf in the house to drop in 



day. In forcing-houses ventilation in the 

 spring is rather injurious than beneficial. When 

 the air is charged with moisture it is more suitable 

 for plants in a growing state than when they are 

 ready to rest. "The skilful balancing of the 

 temperature and moisture of the air, and a just 

 adaptation of them to the various seasons of 

 growth, constitutes the most complicated part of a 

 gardener's art." Lindlei/s Theory of Horticulture. 



Enough, however, has been said on these sub- 

 jects, and perhaps by this time the reader is 

 reduced to that condition in which Horace, 

 anxious to prepare for his supper party, que- 

 rulously tells his servant, "Persicos odi, pner, 

 apparatus," which, as the botanical name of the 

 peach is <f Persica," may be thus rendered : 

 " Gardener, I am sick of your peach training." 



The principal suggestions are summer pinch- 

 ing reduced to a method, and perfected in the 

 winter pruning of peaches on the alternate sys- 

 tem ; and the placing the trees diagonally at 

 short intervals. I have not dwelt much on the 

 obvious advantage of being able in this way 

 to occupy a valuable wall with a succession of 

 fruits, precious to the cultivator as this must be, 

 because it seemed to me that the being able to 



