494 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



equal facility through it when in a depressed 

 position as when in an erect one, after a year 

 or two." 



The above may be considered as the rationale 

 of Mr Hay ward's theory of the circulation of the 

 sap ; and, in accordance with these views, he 

 has laid down a principle of training the peach 

 — of which fig. 222 will give a very correct idea 



Fk. 222. 



HAY1VARD S MODE OF TBACH-TRA INING. 



Fia-. 223. 



CALLOW S MODE OF PEACH -TRAINING. 



— when the tree has arrived at its full size and 

 form. Some attention is required at starting 

 upon this principle. From our figure it will be 

 seen that two branches start from the main 

 stem, and are laid in in nearly a horizontal direc- 

 tion. To secure this without loss of time, it be- 

 comes desirable that these shoots should be pro- 

 duced the first year from budding. " This may 

 be done," Mr Hayward observes, " by either in- 

 serting the buds opposite to each other in the 

 stock, or, when performing the operation of 

 budding, those buds only should be inserted 

 which have three leaves appended to them, as 

 from such buds three shoots will be produced. 

 Then, as soon as the buds begin to swell in the 

 spring, the centre shoot should be picked out 

 with the point of a pen-knife : the two lesser 

 shoots will then push out sufficiently strong to 

 form two equal stems; and these, if carefully 

 guarded, will produce a plant of proper growth 

 the first year from the budding. But if plants 

 with two equal stems are not to be had, plants 

 with one good stem only may be made to throw 

 out a second one without cutting back. By this 

 mode one stem will appear to be a year behind 



the other in growth ; but as the division of sap 

 will be equal in a few years, the youngest will 

 attain the size of the other, and in the end both 

 stems will be equal in their appearance and in 

 their produce." Hayward's theory has been ra- 

 ther severely treated by theoretical critics, many 

 of whom find it easier to discover faults than to 

 remedy them. His writings, although not in 

 all cases agreeing with the generally- 

 received physiological opinions, may 

 nevertheless, as a whole, be perused 

 with advantage. 



Callow's method of training the 

 peach, fig. 223, shows the main 

 branches in a position more horizontal 

 than that in modes in general use ; 

 the ends, however, of all the leading 

 branches are elevated, forming a cur- 

 vilinear inclination with the horizon, 

 giving the trees a very elegant al- 

 though not a constrained appearance. 

 The old wood is not overcrowded, 

 and the spaces between are very re- 

 gularly filled up with the young bear- 

 ing-wood, which is shortened yearly 

 in spring, according to its strength, 

 while the leading shoots are allowed 

 to extend with little shortening at 

 all. This mode is better adapted to 

 low than to high walls. 



The fan mode of training, in one or 

 other of its various modifications, is 

 that most usually followed, both with 

 the peach and apricot. It is by far the 

 most natural, and admits of remedying 

 the defects arising from the loss of a 

 branch, which is almost impracticable 

 in forms so truly symmetrical as those 

 of Hayward or Seymour, and to which 

 both these trees are oftentimes sub- 

 ject. In one or other of its forms it 

 is most generally followed in Britain, 

 and is deserving of our attention— first, 

 because no peach trees in the world are 

 trained so well ; secondly, because, on account 

 of climate and other circumstances, Britain is 

 not the most favourable for the successful cul- 

 ture of the peach, nectarine, and apricot, to all 

 of which this mode is applicable ; and where 

 the greatest deviation from it has been practised, 

 there the superiority of its principles is most 

 clearly exhibited. 



A method of fan-training was recommended 

 some years ago by Mr Kendall in the second 

 volume of "The Gardeners' Magazine," p. 142, 

 which has so much system and simplicity in its 

 whole arrangement that we have often been in- 

 duced to follow it in training these trees on the 

 open walls. A 



Fig. 224. 



KENDALL S MODE OF 

 FEACH -TRAINING. 



maiden tree is se- 

 lected and planted. 

 In spring it is head- 

 ed down to four 

 eyes, placed in such 

 a manner as to 

 throw out two 

 shoots on each 

 side, thus present- 

 ing the appearance 



