116 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



In the end of November any laterals that may 

 have been produced on the branches of the lower 

 tier should be cut to within 1 inch of their bases. 

 At the same time the upright leader must be cut 

 15 inches higher than in the preceding season, if 

 the soil is very rich and the climate moist ; other- 

 wise, only 1 foot higher, more especially if the 

 variety is not a strong-growing one. This will 

 cause shoots to be produced for another tier of 

 branches. By these means the two lower tiers 

 will have been obtained, and in the same man- 

 ner as many more as may be desirable can be 

 secured. 



Instead of obtaining only one stage of horizon- 

 tals annually, two may very well be produced 

 after the first two, if the trees are growing well. 

 It is advisable to originate the two lower stages 

 from buds on the mature shoot as above directed, 

 for it is important that they should be well 

 established; but afterwards the upright leading 

 shoot may have its growing point pinched off 

 in summer when it has grown to the height of 

 12 inches. This will occasion the production 

 of several shoots at or near that height, one of 

 which should be trained to grow upright during 

 the remainder of the season, and afterwards be 

 cut over at 12 inches above where it was 

 pinched, that is, at 2 feet from where it started 

 in spring. 



Having pointed out the manner in which the 

 stem is reared, and the mode of originating the 

 side branches, we shall now turn to the manage- 

 ment of the latter. They a 

 should be pruned and trained 

 with an aim to give the tree 

 the form of a pyramid or 

 cone, of which, if the tree is 

 intended to be of limited 

 extent, fig. 916 may represent 

 a section. Its total height is 

 about equal to its circumfer- 

 ence at the widest part, a 

 proportion which is consid- 

 ered to give the most elegant 

 appearance. If the distance 

 from the base b to the apex 

 a be 10 feet, the circumfer- 



ence at the widest being as 



Fig. 916. 

 Pyramid Training. 



much, the diameter at c 

 will be about 38 inches. The branches must 

 therefore be kept within the limits a c and a d. 

 The upper branches will be strongly disposed 

 to extend, not only beyond the limits repre- 

 sented by the dotted lines, but also much 

 beyond the horizontal extension of the lower 

 branches. This must, however, be prevented 



by an early stopping of the shoots. In summer, 

 as well as at the winter pruning, the regular 

 outline of the tree must be kept in view and 

 strictly maintained, otherwise the growth of 

 the top will soon be in a condition to draw the 

 greatest share of the sap, which is unfavourable 

 to fruitfulness. If all the branches were of 

 equal length the tree would be like a cylinder, 

 but they would be equal as regards their length 

 and that only, for their vigour would be very 

 different, vegetation being much more active in 

 the upper than in the lower part. When sub- 

 jected to pyramidal training, the upper branches 

 are shortened so that the quantity of foliage 

 they bear is less than the lower ones do; and 

 thus the supply of sap will be limited in the 

 part where, otherwise, it would tend to be in 

 excess. 



The above remarks will be sufficient to show 

 the necessity of strictly preserving the outline; 

 but all within will be a mass of shoots unless 

 attention is paid to pinching and summer prun- 

 ing, for on these the success of trees trained as 

 pyramids chiefly depends. 



Summer Pruning and Pinching the Shoots. — 

 It is evident that if the shoots of a pyramidally- 

 trained tree were not shortened and thinned, 

 their foliage would suffer from being shaded and 

 crowded. It is also certain that if the laterals 

 were allowed to grow till the winter pruning, 

 they would either have to be cut off, or, if then 

 shortened, a number of shoots would start from 

 their bases, and cause greater crowding in the 

 following season than before. Such being the 

 consequence of cutting back shoots at the winter 

 pruning, in order that little winter pruning 

 may be necessary, recourse must be had to sum- 

 mer pruning, an important operation, respecting 

 which, however, there is much diversity of 

 opinion. We shall consider it in detail, both 

 as regards the parts to be operated on, and the 

 time and manner of performing the operation. 



A pyramid-trained tree consists, essentially, of 

 an upright stem, and as many side branches as 

 can be properly trained without overcrowding. 

 There must be space between them for fruit- 

 spurs when these come to be formed. All shoots 

 not required to form the stem or the branches 

 from it must be summer-pruned, either by the 

 knife, or by pinching between the finger and 

 thumb. The operation should be performed on 

 laterals that grow from the young summer shoots 

 that are intended to form a permanent part of 

 the tree, as well as on those of the older wood. 

 The time varies with the earliness or lateness of 

 the season; and again, as a general rule, the 



