VL TRAINING AND PRUNING. 



About the middle of July, take the two bottom shoots, 

 one of which will be on one side of the stem or trunk, as 

 it must now be called, and the other on the other side, 

 place a couple of little stakes to each of these shoots, 

 and tie the shoots down to the stakes so that they may 

 lie in a horizontal direction, suffering the top shoot to go 

 on ; but, about the latter end of July, take the top off 

 from that shoot. Thus, when winter comes, you will 

 have one upright shoot and two horizontal ones. In the 

 spring, cut off the top shoot again, leaving five buds. 

 Two of which you will cut out in order to prevent them 

 from sending out shoots. You will again have two side- 

 shoots, and the top shoot will again be going on upright. 

 You must now have longer stakes in order to give these side 

 shoots a horizontal direction j but, the stakes that serve for 

 the new shoots will serve also for those of the last year j 

 but then, as the shoots of the last year will be going on, 

 there must be additional stakes to tie them to. The next 

 year you proceed in the same manner j and, if you do the 

 work carefully you will finally have these lateral shoots 

 in perfectly regular order, and they should be at about 

 from seven to nine inches asunder, the lowest within a 

 few inches of the ground, and the highest just according 

 to your fancy j but it is not desirable to carry the tree to 

 a height beyond that of about five or six feet. As these 

 side-shoots or limbs increase in size and length, they will 

 need loftier and stouter stakes j and this, like the growing 

 of peas in a neat manner, and to produce fruit most 

 abundant in quantity and most excellent in quality j this 

 staking, as in the case of peas, has been the great 

 obstacle to the cultivation of espaliers. A stake of any 

 ordinary wood will last not above two years, and espe- 



