148 The Cordon System of Training Fruit Trees. 



tion may be regulated by the cultivator's taste and by his soil and 

 climate. 



With respect to the form to be attained, little need be said ; it is 

 so simple and definite that anybody can manage it. A presentable 

 line of cordons may be made with greater facility than a plantation 

 of bush or pyramidal apples, as all varieties of apples do not con- 

 form to these shapes. It is perhaps best to plant the trees some 

 months before bending them to the wire, so that they may be 

 settled down firmly before being attached to the wire. The graft 

 should never be buried. If planted in autumn, it will be best to 

 defer the bending down till spring, as at that season the stems are 

 more elastic from being full of rising sap. When bent down, they 

 should not be severely cut in, or they may betray a tendency to 

 shoot too vigorously from the "bend;" and when the point of the 

 cordon is growing, it may, though tied down occasionally, be per- 

 mitted to grow upwards a little. By doing so, we encourage the 

 sap to flow on regularly through the stem, and nourish all the 

 spurs on its way ; whereas if the growing point be repressed, or too 

 rigorously tied down, there will be a greater tendency to shoot from 

 the part near the bend, and therefore more trouble for the summer 

 pruner; and it is in summer chiefly that the cordons must be 

 pruned. I have seen "cordons" in British gardens with the 

 shoots allowed to rise up like willow-wands. Of course success 

 cannot be attained under such circumstances — such cordons are an 

 eyesore instead of a benefit; and those who cannot attend to them 

 better should content themselves by planting ordinary standard 

 trees. The great point is the summer pinching, to insure a dense 

 array of fruit spurs, while every other suitable means may be used 

 to secure an equal distribution of sap : thus, if the plantation be 

 made on a declivity, all the points should be directed upwards; 

 again, if bare spaces occur on the stem, the dormant eyes should 

 be induced to break by making two incisions a little in front of a 

 dormant eye, and taking out a small piece of bark and young wood. 

 These cares are chiefly required in the establishment of the planta- 

 tion — once the spurs are regularly developed along the lines. 



