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We will commence with ordinary rough espalier or 

 dwarf standard. Young plants, or " maidens/ 5 as 

 they are termed in the nurseries, which have been 

 recently planted, should be headed rather closely back 

 the first season. The main object, indeed, in this 

 and the succeeding year, is to establish the future 

 form of the tree, which is at this period easily con- 

 trolled as to any desired shape. The exterior of such 

 tree should of course be formed first, for if strong in- 

 terior shoots be allowed to prevail, all efforts to pro- 

 duce a proper form will prove abortive. The trees 

 for rough espaliers should therefore take what is 

 termed by practical men " the punch-bowl shape," or 

 the character of what the florist deems good form in 

 the tulip. All interior shoots must be entirely re- 

 moved at this period ; and what exterior shoots are 

 suffered to remain must either stand well as to the 

 end in view, or be shortened back, in order to obtain 

 more shoots in the next year to take the proper posi- 

 tion. If the trees are " maidens," they must be 

 pruned back to about four or five buds on each re- 

 maining shoot. If they have been planted a year or 

 two, there will be plenty of shoots to select from, and 

 the young wood may be left upwards of nine inches 

 in length : if more is left, the shoots of many kinds 

 will not become duly clothed with fruit-bearing 

 spurs ; and when these matters receive proper attention 



