222 



PRUNING. 



the quince^ because these stocks all diminish the vigor of 

 wood growth, which is often the chief difl&culty in man 

 aging trained trees. 



The aspect for these trees should never be due south. 

 A railing to train such trees on, is made of upright posts 

 sunk in the ground, and connected with cross bars, at 

 eiglit to twelve inches a23art, upon which the arms of the 

 espalier are fastened with willow or bass matting. Mr. 

 Rivers, in his " Miniature Fruit Garden," exhibits a sys- 

 tem of growing pears in espalier, in the form of pyramids, 

 as adopted by himself. I saw these trees when in Eng- 

 land, in 1849, and although it appeared a very ingenious 

 and economical arrangement, admitting a great number 

 of varieties in a small space, and besides very well 

 adapted to an English climate, yet it did not appear to offer 

 any advantages that would warrant its recommendation 

 in this country, unless under rare circumstances in the 

 most northern sections. "Whoever will study attentively 

 the means described for conducting a pyramid, can suc- 

 ceed fully in training the espaliers or Avall pyramid. 



Section 2. — Petjning and Training the Quince. 



^As ordinarily grown, the quince is the most neglected, 

 and consequently, the most unsightly, deformed tree to be 

 found in the orchard or garden, and yet, when well treated, 

 it is really, both when in blossom and in fruit, one of the 

 most beautiful of all our fruit trees. Its fruit is more 

 esteemed, and more generally used in this than in any 

 other country. It is naturally a crooked or spreading 

 bush, and without some attention to pruning and training 

 when young, it assumes an irregular form, branching near 

 the ground, and quite destitute of bearing wood on all its 

 lower and interior parts. It is in this neglected form we 

 most generally find it. To make a regular and handsome 



