VI. TRAINING AND PRUNING. 



make himself clearly understood j and, indeed, it is im- 

 possible for him to do it unless he have the best attention 

 of the reader : it is not a clear statement of a fact ; it is 

 not a mere affirmation or negation, that is required here j 

 -nor is it in the construction of an argument and the 

 drawing of a conclusion : here we have to describe innu- 

 merable minute acts to be performed with the hands and 

 the fingers -, and, I have always found, that to be intelli- 

 gible, in such a case, is the most difficult thing that one 

 experiences in the use of words. Hence it is that this is 

 hardly ever attempted without the assistance of drawings, 

 or of something that teaches throug'h the channel of the 

 eye. I shall do my best to make myself clearly under- 

 stood ; and, if I have the strict attention of the reader, I 

 have little doubt of success. I shall first offer some pre- 

 liminary observations, and to these I request the reader's 

 extraordinary attention. 



225. The time, or rather times, of pruning, are common 

 to all fruit trees. The winter pruning is performed in 

 February, March and April, beginning with the earliest 

 sorts of trees (with reference to their blooming) and end- 

 ing with the latest, forming this series : apricot, peach, 

 plum, pear, cherry, apple. Quinces and medlars will be 

 spoken of sufficiently under the names of those trees, as 

 will gooseberries, currants, and raspberries. It may be 

 matter of indifference, perhaps, whether the winter 

 pruning of the above mentioned trees take place in one 

 of the afore-mentioned months or the other ; but three 

 things are to be observed in the case of all trees j that 

 pruning ought not to be done during the time of flower- 

 ing 5 and that the summer pruning ought not to be done 



