390 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



&c. &c, Pruning is also performed upon the 

 roots to induce fruitfulness, and to check over- 

 luxuriance in growth. 



In pruning, the following practical rules 

 should be attended to : Commence the opera- 

 tion upon hardy trees, as soon after the begin- 

 ning of October as the gathering of the fruit will 

 allow. Avoid frosty weather, or when it appears 

 to be approaching. In cutting, always draw the 

 knife in an upward direction, and leave the 

 wound smooth to prevent the lodgment of 

 water. In removing young wood, leave about 



an inch of the branch above the last bud, and 

 make the cut on the side opposite to it. But, 

 in removing an old branch, cut it as close to the 

 stem or branch left as possible, in order that the 

 bark of the latter may cover the wound the 

 sooner. Use a sharp knife, a due share of consi- 

 deration, and be not in too great a hurry, lest you 

 remove the branch which ought to have been 

 left. 



Fig. 149 shows the leading methods of training 

 wall and espalier trees, with the names by which 

 they are designated. 



Fig. 149. 



VARIOUS MODES OF TRAINING. 



a, the herring-bone fan ; b, the irregular fan ; c, the stellate fan ; d, the drooping fan ; e, the wavy fan 

 /, the horizontal ; g, the horizontal with screw stem ; h, the horizontal with double stem ; 

 i, the vertical with screw shoots ; k, the vertical with upright shoots. 



Besides these, espaliers are trained horizon- 

 tally, or in form of a table, the stem rising 

 through the centre of the trellis, and the branches 

 being trained in a radiating form. Sometimes the 

 espalier is placed vertically, sometimes placed at 

 one or other angle of elevation, either according to 

 the latitude of the place or the whim of the owner. 

 They are also now often trained in the domical 

 and curvilinear manner, of which examples will 

 be found in sect. Espalier Rails, vol. i. p. 556. 



Sometimes necessity occasions the trees to be 

 planted on one side of the wall, having their 

 branches brought over the top, and trained pen- 

 dulous on the other ; while others have planted 

 the trees on one side of the wall whose branches 

 were to cover the other, depending on the check 

 the sap would meet with where the branches 

 come in contact with the sides of the coping ; 

 and one old and excellent fruit cultivator, Mr 

 Mearnes, trained the stems of his trees, bare of 

 branches, to the top of the wall ; and, by carry- 

 ing a leader horizontally, trained the shoots 

 from them in a downward direction, reversing 

 the position of the vertical with upright form. 

 The varieties of training now in use are less 

 numerous than formerly, and other modes of 

 inducing fruitfulness are practised, and with 

 evident effect. 



In regard to training dwarf standards within 

 a limited space, in addition to the examples we 

 have given, and the notice of others, we may 

 add that of them all there appears none superior 

 to that of training in the spiral form, fig. 154, &c, 

 p. 395 ; that is, having the branches trained spi- 

 rally round stakes set in a circular form, which 

 stakes are to be removed when the branches 

 have attained a sufficient size to retain their 

 spiral form ; and next to that, Hayward's 

 mode, fig. 151, &c, p. 395. All pruning and 

 training, however, must be considered subor- 

 dinate to a proper selection of stock, and to 

 operations on the roots, much more than on the 

 branches. The true balancing of the power of 

 the roots to that of the branches is most im- 

 portant. 



The season for pruning. — The season of prun- 

 ing, in the general acceptation of the term, ex- 

 tends over the whole year. The process is, 

 however, divided into two general sections, 

 namely, winter and summer pruning. Many 

 do not begin to prune till spring, commencing 

 with the apricot, and taking in close succession 

 the peach, plum, pear, cherry, and last of all the 

 apple and fig, the sap of which is not properly 

 in motion till April. Autumn and winter prun- 

 ing, so far as concerns fruit trees, i3 objected to 



