40 



TRAINING. 



current year's shoots tied down en quenouille. " They had attained the 

 height of from six to twelve feet before the branches were bent down ; 

 but the efiect of this was to cover the shoots Avith blossom-buds, and to 

 produce the most extraordinary crops." 



To produce Quenouille standards, plant a young tree, three or four 

 feet high, and, after the first summer's growth, head back the top and 

 cut-in the side branches, as represented by the dotted lines on a, Fig. 

 21. The next season the tree ^vill shoot out three or four tiers of side 

 branches, according to its strength. The lowest should be left about 

 eighteen inches from the ground, and, by pinching off superfluous shoots, 

 others may be made to grow pretty regularly, so as not to crowd the 

 head. At the end of tliis season head back the leader as in 5, to 

 strengthen the side shoots. Next season a fresh series of lateral shoots 

 w^ill be produced, four or five of which may be kept every year ; and 

 the third or fourth year the lower branches may be bent down in raid- 



Quenouille or Conical Training, progressive stages. Conical or Quenouille Training, complete. 



summer, c, and kept* in a pendulous position for a year or two, by tying 

 them to stakes driven in the ground, or to the main stem. This succes- 

 sive growth at the top, and arrangement of the limbs below, must be 

 continued till the requisite height — say ten feet — is attained, when, all 

 the branches assuming their final form, the tree will resemble Fig. 22. 

 A moderate pruning to produce new wood, and the occasional tying in of 

 a rambling shoot, ^vill be all that is required. The French quenouille 

 training is performed with dwarf stocks, but the trees are more thrifty 

 and durable when grafted on their own stocks, and kept within proper 

 bounds by root-pruning after Mr. Rivers's method, explained in a 

 previous page. 



Pyramids and hushes are trees adapted for small gardens, and not 

 {standards such as are planted in orchards. Mr. Rivers, whose success in 

 training and fruiting dwarf trees has hardly an equal, gives the following 

 directions : — " If a young gardener intends to plant, and wishes to train 



