ORCHARD-HOUSE PRUNING AND TRAINING. 129 



one main object of this work. To reduce Peach- 

 pruning to its simplest and most natural elements 

 is to do away with all the needless and wasteful 

 appliances which have hitherto been such hin- 

 drances to amateurs. In orchard-houses, especially, 

 it is desirable to make use of a system combining 

 simplicity of detail with a saving of time and 

 physical labour, both of which amateurs have not 

 always at their command. 



Considering the immense advance in Peach 

 culture which those invaluable structures, orchard- 

 houses, have produced, and how many of them are 

 chiefly managed by amateurs, it is evident that 

 such laborious contrivances as ties, and such need- 

 less complications as disbudding (too often insisted 

 on, even by excellent primers), must end in 

 wearying and disgusting many to whom the 

 orchard-house would prove a pure and innocent 

 enjoyment. Neither would it be advisable to have 

 one method of pruning, close, for in-doors, and 

 another, long, for the open air. This would create 

 confusion, and hinder progress. It is a mistake to 

 suppose that wall trees and espaliers under glass, 

 or in the open air, require any substantial difference 

 in their mode of treatment. 



The case of potted trees, such as bushes, flat- 

 topped or pyramids, presents no greater difficulty. 

 The shoots on all bush trees in pots should be 



