404 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



of fruit from the same plants within the same 

 year. " The principal use of stopping, how- 

 ever," as is sensibly remarked by Mr Loudon, 

 " is to promote the setting and swelling of fruit 

 either on the shoot of the current year, as in 

 the case of the vine and the melon, or at its 

 base, as in the case of the peach. Much of the 

 winter-pruning of trees might be prevented by 

 stopping the shoots early in summer, provided 

 the state of the tree did not require that the 

 shoots should be allowed to grow their full 

 length, in order to send down nutriment to the 

 increase of the roots, in consequence of which, 

 greater vigour is in turn imparted to the stem 

 and branches. In this case of pruning, as in 

 every other, the state of the tree, and a variety 

 of circumstances connected with it, require to 

 be taken into consideration." 



Finger-pruning or disbudding is performed in 

 the spring, as well as during most of the sum- 

 mer, and has for its object the reduction of the 

 number of young shoots to proper limits, by 

 displacing them when about an inch or two in 

 length, thereby economising the energies of the 

 tree, and directing the sap — which would go to 

 their formation, and afterwards be, along with 

 them, cut off and thrown away — into those that 

 remain. Indeed, fiuger-pruning or disbudding, 

 if properly attended to, would, in most cases of 

 trained trees, render the pruning-knife unneces- 

 sary, unless for the removal of dead, diseased, 

 or superabundant shoots. The removal also of 

 superabundant fruit-buds during early spring, 

 although seldom practised, is deserving of 

 attention. To allow all to expand, greatly 

 weakens the tree, and is one of the causes why 

 we so often have a bad crop of fruit notwith- 

 standing an amazing display of blossom. It 

 would be perhaps going too far to say that 

 every flower-bud should be removed excepting 

 those only from which fruit is to be expected; 

 yet, could we be guaranteed against accidents, 

 there is no doubt that the tree would gain 

 greatly in strength, and the setting of the fruit 

 be more completely insured. 



Without, however, going so far as this, the 

 operation of disbudding, or reducing the num- 

 ber of blossom-buds to something like an approxi- 

 mation to double the number of fruit requh*ed, 

 would, if carried into effect, be attended with 

 very marked results. This operation may be 

 performed during winter, at or soon after winter- 

 pruning, or it may be delayed until the buds 

 begin to swell in spring. In inexperienced 

 hands the latter period would be the safest, as 

 the wood and blossom-buds could then be better 

 distinguished. 



Bending down the branches of standard fruit- 

 trees is done with a view to moderate the flow 

 of the sap, and answers the same purpose as 

 training wall-trees horizontally, or in the pen- 

 dulous form. In the case of full standard trees, 

 strings are attached to the points of the extend- 

 ing branches, and fastened to the stem or trunk : 

 weights suspended from the extremities of the 

 branches have been suggested, but this is neither 

 so business-like nor so safe a course as that of 

 forming a single rail, elevated a few inches above 

 the surface of the ground, and of a diameter 



corresponding with the spread of the branches ; 

 their points being fastened to the rail, depresses 

 the branches to any required degree, and pre- 

 vents their being broken by the wind. The 

 top of the tree may by this means be modelled 

 into what may be called the domical form, simi- 

 lar to fig. 800, vol. i. The time for performing 

 the operation is soon after midsummer, and the 

 effect produced is the interruption of the flow 

 of the sap, and the consequent production of 

 abundance of blossom-buds. 



Laying bare the roots of fruit trees is an old 

 practice, mentioned by Evelyn as common in his 

 day. It is still very generally practised on the 

 Continent, the soil being removed around the 

 stem to such a depth as to expose the princi- 

 pal roots to the action of the atmosphere. Of its 

 utility there are great doubts. It can only be re- 

 garded as a species of mutilation — such as cutting 

 notches in the stem and larger branches, strip- 

 ping off portions of the bark, as recommended 

 by Arnaud d'Andilly about the middle of the 

 seventeenth century in France, and towards the 

 latter end of the last century, and beginning of 

 the present, in Britain, by Lyon, King, Forsyth, 

 and others. Every species of artificial muti- 

 lation, whether of plants or animals, has the 

 effect of bringing about a sort of prematurity, 

 and until that state is arrived at, reproduction 

 does not take place. But these should only be 

 had recourse to as expedients when the more 

 natural modes of providing a proper soil and 

 situation, and judicious pruning and training, 

 have failed. 



For further on pruning and training, vide 

 articles Apple, Pear, Vine, &c. 



Pruning is to be regarded as an art, and a 

 very important one, when conducted upon cor- 

 rect principles, which it is not always, and that 

 more especially in its application to the growth 

 of timber. The remarks previously made, and 

 all those which directly apply to fruit trees, have 

 for their object the very reverse of accumu- 

 lating bulk of woody matter ; the operations of 

 the pruner must, therefore, be guided accord- 

 ingly. If straightness of stem and bulk of tim- 

 ber be the object, as may be said to be the case 

 in all coniferous trees grown for profit, then, 

 as a general rule, it may be stated that the 

 leading shoot should be preserved with the 

 greatest care. No doubt such plants will, like 

 most others, replace such losses, when they 

 accidentally occur, by sending up one or more 

 leaders; but if these are left to themselves, a 

 striving for the lead will enfeeble the whole. 

 All should be removed save the strongest one, 

 if well placed. The sap in all plants has a 

 natural tendency to flow to the highest points, 

 and hence we find the leading shoots always the 

 strongest, the buds farthest from the root, if 

 nearly vertical to it, the plumpest and best 

 formed ; while both lateral branches and their 

 buds, toward the bottom of the tree, are found 

 invariably to be the weakest, and in course of 

 time die away altogether. Hence, we think, 

 nature teaches us our first lesson in timber-tree 

 pruning ; she does so, beginning near the gro\md, 

 and proceeds upwards progressively, but slowly; 

 and so should we, if increasing tho bulk of the 



