4 2 4 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



Espaliers. These trained horizontally with two branches only are 

 very useful for small gardens. They are suitable for planting by the 

 side of garden walks, and should be trained on wires about 18 inches 

 above the ground. Considering their small size they bear fruit freely. 



Pruning. The technical term pruning is applied to the annual 

 removal of certain shoots or branches, and is practised in the cultivation 

 of all fruit trees. The objects of pruning are to regulate the form and 

 size of the tree, to equalise growth by restricting unduly vigorous shoots 

 and encouraging weaker ones, to form flower-buds for the production of 

 fruit, to admit a proper amount of light and air between the branches, 

 and remove all dead, diseased, or otherwise useless wood. 



In order to thoroughly understand the pruning and training neces- 

 sary to form a properly shaped Standard Apple tree, we will follow 

 the progress of one of these from the commencement. We will suppose 

 that a clear stem of rather more than 6 feet has already developed since 

 the tree was grafted ; the next operation is to form the foundation 

 branches. In winter, cut the top off the shoot, for that portion of the 

 wood is usually soft. The following spring allow three good shoots to 

 grow from the buds immediately below the cut portion. These are to 

 form the primary branches of the tree. During the summer months 

 attend to them carefully in order to regulate and equalise their progress 

 as much as possible. The shoot proceeding from the uppermost bud is 

 almost sure to be the strongest, and will probably grow perpendicularly. 

 This must be prevented, however, by bending the shoot downwards, so 

 as to check the flow of sap and divert it to the other two branches, both 

 of which are usually weaker. If one is particularly weak it should be 

 brought upright, as this results in more vigorous growth. Towards 

 the end of the summer 12 or 15 inches of each young branch should 

 have been brought down almost straight. This is easily accomplished 

 when the shoots are young. The following winter, cut or prune back 

 the growths made during the summer to within 9 or 10 inches of the 

 base of each. 



An inch or two more or less does not matter, but what is of more 

 importance is the necessity of cutting them back to two buds that point 

 away from the centre of the tree. The two best shoots that push in an 

 outward direction from the upper parts of each of the three branches 

 should be encouraged to grow the following summer. There are now 

 six branches, and they need the same careful attention during the warm 

 months, in order to have them evenly balanced and at an equal dis- 

 tance from each other, as in the case of the three primary shoots of the 

 previous year. 



The primary branches of a Bush Apple tree may be formed in a 

 similar manner, though they will, of course, in this case, originate a few 

 inches above the surface of the ground. Numerous side shoots will 

 develop from these branches, and when they have grown about 5 

 inches long pinch them. If they were allowed to grow until the 

 autumn, and were then cut back to within a short distance of their 

 bases more shoots would push the following summer from the buds 



