68 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



moreover, the fruit will be of better flavour 

 than when some of the branches are starved 

 whilst others are over-luxuriant. 



When the shoots begin to grow in the early 

 part of the season, inspect the tree, and take 

 especial notice of the strongest branches, and 

 also of the weakest. If any of the younger- 

 branches are thicker and more vigorous than 

 those that are older, such ought not to have 

 been the case, and equality must if possible be 

 restored. The shoots on the strong branches 

 must be kept well pinched in, commencing 

 early; as soon as they have extended to five or 

 six leaves, they should be pinched immediately 

 below the fifth one. The shoots on the weak 

 branches, on the contrary, ought not to be 

 pinched till they have attained a considerable 

 length, and then they should be left long 

 enough to bear a greater amount of foliage 

 than those which are over- vigorous. By these 

 means the weak branches will gain upon the 

 strong. When that equality is regained, which 

 indeed ought never to have been lost, it will still 

 be necessary to commence summer-pruning the 

 upper branches first. Presuming that in the 

 spring all the branches possessed an equal de- 

 gree of vigour, and if, when the shoots started, 

 they were all stopped or pruned equally and at 

 the same time, the upper ones would gain an 

 advantage over the lower, from the natural 

 disposition of the sap to flow into the former 

 in preference to the latter. Hence the necessity 

 of always checking the young shoots in the 

 upper parts of the tree before those in the 

 lower. 



Wall -trees. — Although the Apple is grown 

 in perfection in the southern parts of the king- 

 dom as standards, dwarfs, and espaliers, yet 

 certain sorts are very generally provided with 

 a wall in northern situations. Apple-trees do 

 not require the minute care that some other 

 kinds of wall-trees do; yet, as walls are expen- 

 sive, every kind of tree planted against them 

 ought to be well managed and productive. 



The first consideration is the mode of train- 

 ing which should be adopted. If the wall is 

 low, the horizontal espalier is decidedly the 

 best, and it is also suitable for those of the usual 

 height. In some particular cases, as against 

 the high gable end of a house, the tree may be 

 trained in the fan manner, in order that the 

 wall may be the sooner covered. If the hori- 

 zontal mode is the one adopted, the next con- 

 sideration is the distance between the horizontal 

 branches. For the weaker-growing varieties of 

 dessert Apples, the distance may be three 



courses of bricks, or 9 inches; but for vigorous, 

 large-leaved sorts, 12 inches, or four courses of 

 bricks, will be preferable. In cold situations 

 this width is not too much; for if part of the 

 surface is not covered with foliage, the sun's 

 rays, acting directly against the naked bricks, 

 will heat the wall to a much higher degree than 

 if the surface were entirely covered with foliage. 

 Whether the distance between the branches be 

 9 or 12 inches, the lowest should be 1 foot from 

 the ground. But the upright leading shoot 

 ought to be cut back, so that the two buds 

 intended to originate the lowest pair of hori- 

 zontals may be about 9 inches above the sur- 

 face, thus allowing them 3 inches of an ascent 

 to the line by which they are afterwards to be 

 trained. The next pair of horizontals may be 

 allowed nearly as much; the third course of 

 horizontals somewhat less than the preceding; 

 and so on to near the top, where the branches 

 may proceed at right angles from the stem. In 

 some cases two courses of horizontals may be 

 taken in the same season, cutting back the up- 

 right shoot to one bud above the place from 

 which the side shoots are required to push. 

 This should not be done later than June. 



The directions for maintaining equality of 

 vigour among the branches of espalier- trained 

 trees apply also to those trained on walls. The 

 summer pruning, and the pruning of the spurs 

 in winter, are conducted in the same manner as 

 with the Pear, in the chapter on which further 

 particulars will be found. 



hoot-pruning. — This means of checking the 

 excessive vigour of the Apple is described at 

 some length in the chapter on the Pear, it is 

 only needful to point out here that it is often 

 efficacious in checking undue growth and pro- 

 moting fruitfulness in both cases. In fact, in 

 the case of large established trees it is the only 

 method available, as though lifting the trees 

 can be adopted when they are young, it is a 

 very expensive process when they are more 

 fully developed, and could not be followed out 

 on a large scale. 



Sterility may result from other causes than 

 excessive growth, and apart from the introduc- 

 tion of varieties to assist in pollination, a remedy 

 may sometimes be found in increasing or chang- 

 ing the manurial supplies. The subject of 

 manures is so fully dealt with in the chapter on 

 that subject that it is unnecessary to enter upon 

 it here except to call attention to one or two 

 facts. A healthy young Apple-tree in a sub- 

 stantial and suitable soil is practically indepen- 

 dent of manurial aid in its early stages. When 



