212 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GARDENING. 



side shoots is ready for disbudding, all on the lower 

 sides are rubbed off, and the others are thinned out ; 

 those left are nailed or tied in during the summer, 

 but the following season they are tied down to the 

 main branches, where they are supposed to bear 

 fruit, when they are cut out to make room for young 

 growths which originated in wood-buds at the base 

 of each. When the fruit begins to swell, the ter- 

 minal as well as the lateral breaks are kept pinched 

 so as to give the young wood and foliage light and 

 warmth. Indeed, the system of managing the fruit- 

 ing and succession wood is very similar to that re- 

 commended for Cordons, only all the young growths 

 are here on the 

 upper sides of the 

 oblique shoots or 

 branches. 



Cordon 

 Training. — 



Peaches are often 

 trained as single 

 and double, ver- 

 tical or oblique, 

 also as horizontal 

 Cordons, either 

 for growing under 

 glass or against 

 walls. The single 

 Cordon (Fig. 9), 

 answers well for 

 special purposes. 

 It is formed by 

 allowing a maiden 

 tree to escape the 



knife, and the leader is trained on in an oblique or 

 vertical form without being pinched or shortened, so 

 long as plenty of side shoots or laterals can be ob- 

 tained, until it has attained the required height. All 

 side shoots are pinched at the fifth or sixth leaf, and 

 re-pinched to induce the formation of flower-buds 

 from which fruit can be taken in the second year. 

 Trees of this kind are not long-lived ; but they are 

 well adapted for giving a little fruit before per- 

 manent trees come into bearing. They also offer 

 facilities for testing a number of varieties within a 

 limited space, and on this account are interesting to 

 amateurs and others who wish to make themselves 

 thoroughly acquainted with the numerous kinds now 

 under cultivation. 



If it is intended to cover a given space with Cor- 

 dons in the shortest possible time, a sufficient number 

 of clean, strong, evenly-grown maidens should be 

 selected, and planted two feet apart where they are 

 to remain. Autumn is the best time to plant, either 

 before or immediately after the leaves fall. The 



Fig. 18.— Seymour's System of Training 



Fig. 19. - Cordon Training 



root-space should be limited, as the system is the re- 

 verse of that now generally adopted, and the borders 

 should be composed of sound, friable, calcareous, but 

 not over-rich materials, which will favour the for- 

 mation of an abundance of fibrous roots and flower- 

 buds. Manure will not be needed until the trees 

 begin to bear, when it may be applied as a top- 

 dressing or mulching. If carefully planted and well 

 watered, a few weeks will suffice for the formation 

 of fresh roots, when all the side shoots must be cut 

 back to a single bud, and a small piece may be 

 taken off the tip of the leader when perfect matura- 

 tion is doubtful, otherwise the leaders can be left 



the whole length, 

 when the terminal 

 bud will continue 

 the growth until 

 the allotted space 

 is covered. The 

 next operation 

 will be the re- 

 gular pinching of 

 side shoots, when 

 they have grown, 

 say, six inches. 

 Those nearest the 

 top of the tree 

 generally start 

 first, and on this 

 account they 

 should be pinched 

 first to throw the 

 sap into the buds 

 nearest the base of 

 the shoot. WTien 



these have been stopped all growths must be tied in to 

 the trellis or wall, taking care they are not so close 

 to each other as to prevent the proper development of 

 the buds and foliage. If the young leaders do not 

 show a disposition to furnish plenty of side shoots for 

 future pinching, they may be stopped when they have 

 made eighteen to twenty-four inches of growth, to 

 strengthen and burst the back buds, when they will 

 start fresh leaders and grow r on again, to be again 

 stopped if necessary. If the compost is not too rich, 

 the side growths at the end of the season will con- 

 sist of rather strong shoots, plentifully furnished 

 with wood-buds, and weaker growths studded with 

 flower-buds, with a wood-bud at the base and another 

 at the point. These must be left full length, as the 

 removal of the point-bud would cause the shoot to 

 die back to the base-bud, and the crop of fruit would 

 be sacrificed to false pruning. The stronger shoots, 

 not so plentifully set with flower-buds, unless they 

 are wanted to furnish a perfect specimen, must, how- 

 ever, be cut back to the lowest leaf -buds for giving 



