36 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



Nectarine are the Brompton or Mignonne and the 

 Mussell Plum. These are raised by layering the 

 growths from established stoles in the nursery ; 

 when rooted they are detached, trimmed, 

 and shortened back to the height of twenty 

 to thirty inches, and planted out in lines 

 to make a year's growth ; the following 

 autumn they are taken up, divided into two 

 sizes, and again planted in rows three feet 

 apart, where they remain until after they 

 are worked. During the following July 

 and August all that are growing kindly are 

 budded with the approved kinds of Peaches 

 and Nectarines, the buds remaining dor- 

 mant until the following spring, when they 

 start into growth. (Shield-budding, the 

 mode generally practised in the working of 

 stone-fruit trees, has been fully described 

 and illustrated under Roses and elsewhere.) 

 The stocks are then cut back to the bud, as 

 at a, and the summer's growth results in the 

 production of a "Dwarf Maiden" (Fig. 6), 

 varying from two to four feet in height. 

 In this form many growers, who object to 

 cutting back to four buds, prefer buying 

 and taking them under their own manage- 

 ment. Early in the autumn the maidens 

 are rifted, root-pruned, and planted out on 

 well-prepared quarters, in rows four feet apart and 

 two feet from each other ; here they remain in- 

 tact until the following spring, and when all danger 

 of severe frost has passed away, the first barbarous 

 act, that of cutting them back as shown to within 

 four or five buds of the working, is committed, the 



.a 



Fig. 6.— Dwarf 

 Maiden. 



to the formation of a pleasing-looking tree with ten 

 to twelve shoots, something like the annexed sketch 

 (Fig. 8), and the nursery trainer's work is at an end. 



Standard trees are made in the following 

 way : — When the time arrives for budding, 

 the young stocks intended for double work- 

 ing are budded close to the ground with a 

 free-growing plum ; the bud remains dor- 

 mant until the spring, when the stock is 

 cut back to the working. During the 

 summer this bud from the base throws up 

 one strong straight shoot, which is worked 

 with a Peach or Nectarine at the required 

 height about the following August. When 

 the leaves fall many of these trees are 

 transferred to walls or fences for future 

 training : some into half -standards, and 

 others into full standards, ranging from 

 two to six feet in height. To the un- 

 initiated this double budding may seem 

 unnecessary ; but it is an authenticated 

 fact that the process results in the produc- 

 tion of a finer and quicker growth, and the 

 plum being hardier than the Peach, it is 

 better suited to the vicissitudes of our 

 climate, while trees so worked are rendered 

 more fruitful when they come into bearing. 

 Referring to a letter from the late lamented 

 Mr. Robert Osborne, he says : " We use the Mussell 

 for most kinds, but find some succeed better on the 



Fig. 7.— One-year Trained Tree. 



Fig. 



-Nursery Trained Tree. 



object being the production of an evenly-balanced 

 growth of a leader and two side shoots. Disbudding, 

 stopping, and training result in a "one-year trained 

 tree " with three shoots (Fig. 7). Cutting back is again 

 deferred until the spring, when each shoot, in continu- 

 ance of a barbarous custom, is shortened to within 

 a few inches of its base. By three strokes of the knife 

 each shoot is maimed, and the foundation of gumming 

 and premature decay is laid ; but the operation leads 



Brompton. Amongst these are your famous Abec, 

 also Bellegarde, Belle Beauce, Chancellor, Grosse 

 Mignonne, Malta, Royal Kensington, Royal Charlotte, 

 and Stirling Castle Peaches ; Balgowan Imperatrice 

 and Victoria Nectarines. The following are best on 

 the Mussell Plum : Barrington Late Admirable, 

 Noblesse, Royal George, and Violette Hative Peaches ; 

 Elruge, Hunt's Tawny, Pitmaston Orange, Red 

 Roman, and Yiolette Hative Nectarines." To many 



