66 TREATISE ON 



from among the strongest, the best situated, of comparable strength and about the same 

 distance from one another, arrayed in a circle with the trunk at the center. They're pruned 

 fairly long, depending on their strength. Some of the smaller branches also can be saved, 

 pruned, & prepared for bearing fruit. (If the tree had been obtained from a commercial 

 nursery, some of its branches may not have been able to be preserved during planting. Of 

 those that have grown out again, the best ones are pruned & straightened during the first 

 two years just as for trees grown on location). Such a tree, unless one wants it to have a 

 uniform shape, will only need to have its dead wood trimmed & a few branches lopped 

 off if it gets too dense or if a branch droops too low or grows too vigorously. Left to 

 nature's care & management, its branches & roots will grow out in all directions. Sap 

 that's carried vigorously and abundantly out to the tree's extremities fortifies it and 

 multiplies the branches required for the growth & stability of the tree. Elsewhere, where 

 the sap flows more moderately or less abundantly, or moves more slowly, it begins to 

 sketch out, so to speak, branches & flower buds, completing & perfecting other ones. 

 From its first years onward, the tree will prove its fecundity & augment it as it progresses 

 in age & in strength. 



Article III. Definition & General Thoughts on Pruning Espalier Trees. 



The wall against which it's planted deprives an espalier tree of half the space & 

 material it would have to spread & nourish its roots & branches if it were in the open. 

 Only the branches parallel to the wall are retained. Of these, some are removed, 



