100 



PRACTICE OF GAEDEIN'LNG. 



operation, as before remarked, cannot be properly taught 

 by the most detailed directions, without personal instruc- 

 tion and practical illustration by a gardener. 



Having procured the trees, they should be planted out 

 in the border before recommended, at about six feet from 

 each other, in the months of October or November, never 

 delaying this operation till the spring, otherwise their 

 succeeding year's growth is often materially checked. 

 A good quantity of manure should be mingled with 

 the soil in the holes prepared for their reception, and 

 the roots should be carefully laid out and covered, only- 

 treading the soil very slightly about them. At the time 

 of planting they should not be pruned, nor during the 

 whole of the first season ; but in the succeeding winter 

 the whole of the shoots should be cut down to within 

 six inches or a foot of the stem, according to their size 

 and strength, and the tree will thus form a bushy head 

 in the ensuing season. Some recommend an annual 

 jjruning, in order to keep the trees dwarf, and promote 

 the formation of fruit-bearing spurs; but, for the former 

 purpose, this operation is quite unnecessary with the 

 Hawthornden sort, except with the very luxuriant shoots, 

 as it has a natural tendency to grow dwarf, if headed down 

 in the earlier stages of its growth ; and, as to the latter 

 object, it is extremely doubtful whether pruning will pro- 

 duce the desired effect ; — all the pruning therefore that 

 is necessary after the second year, is to clear out the old 

 decayed wood, and keep the shoots sufficiently thin to 

 admit light and air, and prevent them from rubbing 

 against each other when blown by the wind. Standards 

 should never be admitted into small gardens, as they shade 

 the groimd much more than dw^arfs, and are more liable 

 to have their crop blovai off by the wind. 



Espaliers should first be trained to one central shoot, 

 and this must be constantly headed down till it produces 

 the required number of lateral shoots, which may be spread 

 out in a horizontal direction. These lateral shoots should 

 never be stopped till they have attained the desired length, 

 when the end should be cut off, which will induce them to 

 throw out other laterals and fruit spurs. All the after 

 pruning that they will require, is to shorten the laterals of 



