394 



THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXIII. 



At the end of the following growing-season the specimen will have 

 advanced sufficiently to allow the lower branches to be bent up 

 towards the top of the wall, and will begin to look shapely. The 

 fifth stage of pruning is well shown in the illustration, which is 

 an exact representation of what the tree ought to be — ^A, and the 

 cross marks indicating where the incisions are to be made. Above 

 all things it is necessary to keep the growth and flow of sap 

 equal, not only for the sake of symmetry, but also to insure 

 perfect health and fertility ; for if one part be allowed to grow 

 grossly at the expense of another, an awkward state of things will 

 soon take place.* Sometimes, when the vegetation is very vigorous, 

 time is gained in the making of this form by pinching the central 



Palmette Verrier, with weakly outer Branch completed by Grafting. 



growth at eight inches or so above the highest pair of opposite 

 branches. It then breaks again, and care is taken to secure two 

 side-shoots and an erect one. Thus, with attention, and in good 

 soil, two stages of branches may be secured in the same year, but 

 this must not be attempted till the proper formation of the two 

 lower branches is secured. The dotted lines in the figure showing 

 the fifth pruning indicate the positions that have been successively 

 occupied by the branch E, while in course of formation, and show 

 that it is by no means necessary to train a young branch from the 

 beginning in the exact position it is required to take. In fact, 

 this form is only to be well and easily finished by allowing the 

 young shoots to first grow and gather strength in an erect or 

 oblique position. The branch E was adjacent to the central 



