FRUIT TREES. Chap. III. 57 



at every point that they intersect. Such a trellis lasts a long time, it offers no haven for 

 insects, & doesn't let dormice walk easily onto the espaliers. But it's not without its 

 faults. Osiers slide along the iron wire, and branches, especially the large ones, can't be 

 kept in the right places. Iron wires aren't able to maintain sufficient tension for the 

 structure's stability, the trees are easily shaken by the wind, & lots of branches become 

 damaged by rubbing against the iron wire. Even though I've seen extremely fine espaliers 

 constructed with iron wire, such a trellis won't bear comparison with the one we're about 

 to describe, neither in terms of its usefulness nor even its economy. 



IV. Strictly speaking, a trellis, & the only kind that can hope to give complete 

 satisfaction, is made out of props or laths of heartwood of oak, or of chestnut poles, split 

 & planed. They're usually found in lumberyards around Paris. In the provinces they can 

 be made by lath & hoop workers who know how to split & plane wood. As soon as the 

 wood is split & planed, it's tied tightly in bundles in the middle and at both ends to keep 

 the laths from warping. A commercial bale of trellis slats is two hundred and twenty-five 

 feet long, so the number of shoots that it contains depends on their length. A commercial 

 bundle consists of twenty-five shoots nine feet long. Three bundles of twenty-five shoots 

 three feet long, or two bundles of twenty-eight shoots four feet long, &c. are equivalent to 

 one commercial bundle. It's unnecessary to point out that wood that is oily, knotty, 

 gnarled, or gnawed by animals can't be used for this purpose. The laths are given as 

 much length as possible so that fewer assemblies have to be made. 



