354 



TRAINING. 



a composition for the destruction of insects. The renailing is in general 

 performed immediately afterwards ; though some, in order to retard 

 the blossoming of the tree next spring, tie the branches to stakes at some 

 distance from the walls. This, however, can only be safely performed with 

 the very hardiest kinds of trees, and even with them must be attended with 

 danger during severe winters, unless in very sheltered situations. In refixing 

 a trained tree, place all the leading branches in their proper positions first, 

 beginning at the lower part of the tree, so as to make sure of covering the 

 bottom of the wall. The main branches being placed, lay in the young 

 wood, beginning also at the bottom of the wall, and at the further extremity 

 of the branch, and working up to the main stem. We shall now describe the 

 different kinds of training, commencing wdth the simplest, and concluding 

 with the different forms employed in training fruit -trees. 



787. Training herbaceous plants in beds or borders is in some kinds 

 effected by fastening them down to the surface of the ground, or to rock- 

 work, or a surface of pebbles, by means of pegs, loops of matting, (630,) or 

 Other material used as ties ; or by laying on the shoots small stones. Twin- 

 ing flowers, such as the common convolvulus, or twining esculents, such as 

 the scarlet runner, only require straight rods, or branches with upright 

 shoots, such as those of the beech, placed close by the plants, or at most the 

 point of the shoot when it is beginning to extend, slightly tied to the rod 

 or branch. Branches are in general to be preferred to straight branchless 

 rods for herbaceous climbers, because by offering a number of interruptions 

 to the ascent of the climbing stem, they encourage it to divaricate, and conse- 

 quently to produce a greater number of flowers and fruit within a limited 

 space. Tendrilled climbers, such as sweet peas, and those with rambling 

 stems, such as the nasturtium, are also supported by branches placed in a 

 cu'cle round each patch, or along each side of a row, of the height to which 

 the plants are expected to grow ; or straight hazel rods are inserted in the 

 soil obliquely so as to touch at top and bottom, and cross in the middle, 

 so as to fomi lozenge- work ; or wires may be supported by iron or 

 wooden rods m any desired form. Tall-growing plants with stems 

 having terminal flowers, and which do not branch, such as some asters, when 

 they cannot support themselves, require to be loosely inclosed by three or 

 four rods placed close to the roots at bottom, and spreading outwards at top, 

 and connected by twine ; or, in some cases, a slender rod may be placed to 

 each stem. On no account should such clusters of stems be tied together in 

 bunches, a common practice among slovenly gardeners, as the compression 

 rots the leaves and lessens the size of the flowers. Plants having branchy 

 stems, such as the Xupinus mutabilis, and the Baptisia, if they require 

 support, should have a stake to each stem, thinning them out where they arc 

 so numerous as to produce a crowded appearance. Florists' flowers, such as 

 the carnation, the dahlia, &c., require particular kinds of stakes, and the 

 greatest care in tying. 



788. Herbaceous and shrubby phinls in pots being in a highly arti- 

 ficial state, when they require training should have straight rods, or 

 symmetrical frames of laths, or of wire- work. Pelargoniums when of large 

 size arc trained by means of straight terminal shoots of wiUow or hazel, so as 

 to radiate their branches from the pot, and form a regular hemisphere of 

 foliage and flowers, close but not crowded. Various training frames have 

 been adopted for ornamental climbers in pots : one is shown by fig. 57 in 



