42 The Cordon System of Training Fruit Trees. 



to the wall will also protect the border, the quantity of noble apples 

 that may be gathered will make it well worth while to contrive an 

 efficient awning for the protection of both border and wall in 

 spring, not an inch of space need be lost, and the border would, 

 when neatly covered with cordons on tightly strained galvanized 

 wires, look well at all seasons. Instead of planting superimposed 

 cordons, as show by Fig. 27, it would be better to have all single 

 cordons at a foot high, as then the wall would not be in the least 

 shaded 5 and there can be no doubt that the single low cordon well 

 developed is the best form. Incidentally I may here state that the 

 borders should be mulched with a couple of inches of short stable 

 manure to allow the roots of all to come near the surface to feed 

 without danger from surface drought caused by drying winds or the 



FIG. 28. Section of preceding figure. 



vicissitudes of cold and heat which the surface is liable to. Good 

 cultivators in France are very partial to covering the ground with a 

 couple of inches of short litter, or mulching as we call it. Although 

 it has been remarked that it is better to depend on one single line 

 of cordon than adopt the superimposed ones grown in the Imperial 

 garden, and shown at Fig. 27, yet as some may desire this 

 method, and some positions suit it, it may not be amiss to remark 

 that the Doucin stock will generally be found the best where two 

 or three rows are trained one over another. 



If such fabulous prices as those above mentioned were never 

 realized, the finer apples that require more heat than they get when 

 fully exposed in our climate would be well worth growing in this 



