FRUITS. CHAP. 



236. Any form may be given to a tree, so that it be 

 suited to its nature, to the aspect, and to the soil. .For 

 instance, the wall-tree is placed flat against a wall well 

 exposed to the sun ; the espalier, pyramid, bush, and dwarf 

 trees, generally grafted on stocks which yield but little 

 sap, are placed in the borders of the garden, and produce 

 little shade, and require a less deep soil than the standard 

 or half-standard. The stocks on which it is proper to 

 graft these trees will be mentioned in the articles treating 

 of the particular management of each. 



237. The French method of pruning, as practised at 

 Montreuil, is that to which the peach-tree is subjected. 

 And, as the peach-tree is the most delicate, and the most 

 difficult to manage, I will take it as the model of a 

 good form, and I shall refer to this article in speaking 

 of other trained trees, which ought all to be pruned in 

 the same manner, with the slight exceptions of keeping 

 the fruit-branches of the pip-fruits a longer time, because 

 they do not bear till about the second or third year, 

 though they last much longer j and of leaving on these 

 branches fewer wood-buds, because they are not wanted 

 for such constant succession. These differences will be 

 treated of in the articles on each particular sort of fruit. 



$38. The wood-branches of the peach-tree are known 

 by their vigour, by their thickness, equal to, if not sur- 

 passing, that of the little finger j by their length of about 

 from three to six feet, and by their bark, which is grey 

 from the first year. The fruit-branches, at most not 

 larger than a large quill, are from six inches to two feet 



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