16 PIOTOBIAL PRACTICAL FRUIT GBOWINO. 



4. Cherries whiob produce their fruit buds in clusters may be spurred 



by summer pruning, but Morellos should have the young wood 

 trained in. 



5. Peaches and Nectarines should be lifted when young to check the 



root action if the growths they produce in summer are upwards of 

 2 feet long and J inch thick or more. 



6. Apricots should be spurred in the main, but a little young wood may 



be trained in if space permits. 



7. All trees that are severely pruned to spurs should be allowed to 



extend a little at the head, unless they are growing on walls or 

 fences where space is limited. 

 These rules may help us on the road, but details will be wanted before 

 we can claim to have mastered the subject. 



Apples. — In some respects the Apple is the most difficult of all trees to 

 prune. Not only are the varieties very numerous, but they differ greatly in 

 habit of growth and method of fruiting. Sorts like Bramley's Seedling and 

 Blenheim Orange make strong, upright growth, and hard pruning is bad for 

 them, as it leads to a great mass of shoots being formed. They should be 

 lifted two years after planting to check root action, and the heads kept open 

 by cutting shoots that crowd the head clean out. They will then grow into 

 large trees and bear heavy crops, although it will be a long time before they 

 yield much. This type of Apple tree should not be shortened severely when 

 young ; the tips of the shoots should be removed and the flowers picked oflE 

 the lirst season after planting to give them a start. 



A second class of tree is that which has a tendency to form a great many 

 _ fruit buds when young, to fruit freely when quite small, and thus to grow 

 ' slowly. Stirling Castle, Bismarck, Potts's Seedling, and Manks's Codlin 

 may be named as examples. If small trees are wanted, well and good ; but 

 it the trees are required to grow into a good size, do not let them bear 

 any fruit the first season, and a maximum of 7 lb. each the second; then they 

 will make growth. 



The majority of Apples do best in the open under the following 

 treatment : Secure in each bush or standard, by the means indicated in my 

 last chapter, from six to twelve main branches, growing upwards and 

 outwards, so that at 1 yard from its base each shoot is at least 9 inches 

 from its neighbours, and at 2 yards 18 inches. After the second year of 

 possession, do not head these shoots hard back ; merely remove a few inches 

 of the tips. About the middle of August go over the trees and shorten the 

 side shoots (" breastwood ") on the main branches to five or six good leaves, 

 and in the winter cut them back to two or three buds. A large crop of fine 

 fruit is a certainty on this system, if ether things are right (Fig. 8, page 15). 

 Some of the finest Apple trees I have ever seen are those growing at 

 Hatfield, and. Lord Salisbury's head gardener summed them up well as 

 "twelve cordons on each tree." Every main branch is roped with splendid 

 fruit like a trained cordon on a wall. 



There are a few Apples, of which Lady Sudeley may be quoted as an 

 example, which bear on the tips of the young wood ; with these ii, good 

 supply of breastwood should be allowed. 



Apricots.— An Apricot tree which has been shortened as a yearling, 

 and trained into the shape of a fan in the same way as a Peach tree, is veiy 

 easy to manage. It will produce three classes of growth: (1) Extension 

 shoots, which may be laid in between the principal "ribs" of the fan if 



