FRUIT TREES 



THEIR PLANTING, TRAINING, PRUNING 

 AND RENOVATION 



The pruning of fruit trees is an art that comparatively few can 

 accomplish successfully, for its acquisition, in perfection, can only 

 be obtained by long practice and inteUigent observation. It follows 

 that the amateur gardener, to whom gardening is but the recreation 

 of leisure hours, is generally dependent for pruning upon the pro- 

 fessional, who may be capable and efi&cient but who, on the other 

 hand, is more likely to have only a slight knowledge of the rudiments 

 of the art and be incapable of applsmig them inteUigently. 



It would be beyond the province of such a book as this to enter 

 into a lengthy disquisition on the various methods which may be 

 adopted in pruning and training, but a few general principles may be 

 stated and their appUcation in particular cases left to the wise dis- 

 cretion of the readier. 



Probably the majority for whom this book is designed have a 

 comparatively small garden, and in many cases, when they enter into 

 occupation, they find it bare and empty, devoid of any fruit trees. 

 It is deplorable how fruit culture is generally neglected, for even in 

 a small garden, surrounded with only a low brick waU, fruit trees may 

 be grown and trained and made productive of good crops by devoting 

 a little care and daily attention. Natiu-ally, much depends upon 

 the position in which the trees are planted and the manner in which 

 they are trained, and it is hoped that some useful hints in these 

 respects may be found in this chapter. 



WALL-TRAINED FRUIT TREES 



For the peach, the nectarine, the apricot, the greengage 

 and the plum — and, indeed, for all stone fruit — ^the best place 



128 



