338 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



[Jan, 



this be judiciously attended to, every part of it will be equally 

 productive of fruit, and the trees thus treated will not only 

 produce a greater quantity of fruit, but the fruit itself will be 

 much better in quality, having the full benefit of the sun, 

 which in crowded trees is not the case. The trees will also be 

 able to bear a gi'eatcr load, without running the risk of break- 

 ing down. 



Thinning the branches of old trees, and keeping them sup- 

 plied with fruitful wood, encouraging young shoots to take the 

 place of those that are getting into decay, and keeping them 

 moderately thin, are points which ought to be sti'ictly attended 

 to. All formality, however, in their heads should be disre- 

 garded, as being both injurious and incongruous. No tree 

 looks so well as one which spreads out its branches as nature 

 directs ; and all look ill which are clipped and shorn into coni- 

 cal shapes, such as balloons, cones, pyramids, &c. It is long 

 since that these fantastical forms have been justly expelled from 

 our ornamental trees, and it is with regret that we hear them 

 recommended for our fruit-trees. The nearer our modes of 

 training approach to nature, the more likely are we to have 

 healthy and fruitful trees. 



PRUNING AND TRAINING APPLES AND PEARS ON WALLS AND 



ESPALIERS. 



These two trees being similar in their manner of bearing, 

 that is, that both of them produce their fruit on spurs, which 

 issue chiefly from the sides, though sometimes, from the ends 

 of their branches, one mode of training and pruning will 

 answer for both. When the espalier or wall on which they 

 are planted is not more than six feet in height, then hori- 

 zontal training is best ; but when the walls are of gi'eater height, 

 then the fan method is preferable, and is the only mode of 

 training pointed out to us by nature. Indeed, these two me- 

 thods of ti-aining all fi-uit-trees, excepting the vine, (and that 

 also, in some cases, may be very properly trained in the same 

 manner,) seems from experience to convince us of the inutility 

 of any other mode. The different modes of training recom- 

 mended of late years produce extremely unhandsome trees, 



