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CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



not more than a year old, plant it 

 where you wish it to stand, and allow 

 it to grow straight up. Once a week 

 all shoots must be broken off as soon 

 as they can be handled. Break no 

 leaves off the main trunk. Keep this 

 up until a month before frost is ex- 

 pected. The main trunk will ripen its 

 wood sufficiently to endure the winter. 

 About the time of the first hard frost, 

 carefully bend the trunk to the ground, 

 and then fasten it there by a hooked 

 stick driven into the earth, as at b. 

 AVhen the winter has fairly set in, 



Fig. 38. 



place a few evergreen boughs or straw 

 over the whole length of the tree, with 

 some light sticks on the covering to 

 keep it from being blown off. In the 

 spring, when the frost is out of the 

 ground, remove covering and the stick 

 that holds the tree down, and allow 

 the latter to resume its upright posi- 

 tion. After it has started to grow, 

 cut off the side branches, leaving but 

 one bud to grow, and treat in the same 

 way as during the previous season. By 

 the fall the trunk will be from six to 



ten feet high, long enough for a first 

 trial ; bend it to the ground and cover. 

 In the spring, leave the tree down, and 

 allow only one bud to grow. This will 

 push straight up and send out branches, ' 

 only a few of which should be al- 

 lowed to grow, and they should be 

 trained fan-shaped, parallel with the 

 horizontal trunk. Be sure to have a 

 stout stake driven into the ground to 

 fasten the upright trunk to. Other 

 stakes may be driven along the side of 

 the fan to fasten the branches to as 

 needed. In the fall, loosen the head of 

 the tree from all its stakes, and after 

 placing straw or other material on 

 the ground to keep the twigs off the 

 soil, bring the head down sideways to 

 the ground and fasten it there, then 

 put on the covering. The horizontal 

 trunk can, without injury, be twisted 

 sufficiently to allow the head to lie on 

 the ground, and this can be done for a 

 good many years, for this horizontal 

 trunk does not increase in size nearly 

 so fast as the upright trunk does. It 

 must be protected from the direct rays 

 of the sun, else the bark will be killed 

 all the way along the top. I lost some 

 trees this way. I find the neatest way 

 is to swathe the trunk in straw ; with 

 a twine string fasten it to the trunk. 

 Be sure that no water can stand around 

 any part of the tree at any time during 

 the winter. Keep the ground perfectly 

 clean from weeds for a good way from 

 the tree, and mice will not be likely to 

 trouble it in winter, as experience 

 proves that they do not run far on 

 ground that is clear of grass or weeds. 

 Do not cover too early, and do not put 

 on too much covering. This method 

 may appear to require a good deal of 

 work, but when the trees once get into 

 bearing you will find, as I do, that it 

 is considerably less work to put down 

 and cover a tree than it is to prune 

 and cover a grapevine. 



