358 



TRAINING. 



2. Upright shoots grow more freely tlian inclined shoots. Therefore 

 when two shoots of unequal vigour are to be reduced to an equality, the 

 weaker must be elevated and the stronger depressed. 



3. The shoots on the upper side of an inclined branch will always be 

 more luxuriant than those on the lower side ; therefore preserve, at the 

 period of pruning or disbudding, only the strongest shoots below, and only 

 the weakest above. 



4. The lower branches of every tree and shrub decay naturally before 

 the upper branches ; therefore bestow the principal care on them, w^hether 

 in dwarf bushes in the open garden, or with trees trained on espaliers or 

 walls. When they are weak, cut them out, and bring down others to supply 

 their place ; or turn up theu' extreme points, which will attract a larger por- 

 tion of sap to every part of the branch. 



792. The different modes of training hushes and trees in the open garden 

 are chiefly the conical form for tall trees or standards, and some modifi- 

 cation of the globe or cylinder for dwarfs ; but it may be remarked that 

 unless these and all other artificial forms are constantly watched to check 

 the tendency to return to nature, they are much better dispensed with. By 

 careful attention some of these artificial forms will bring trees sooner into 

 a bearing state, and a greater quantity of fruit will also be produced in 

 a limited space; but if the continued care requisite for these objects is 

 withdrawn for two or three years, the growth of the tree, while returning to its 

 natural character, will produce a degree of confusion in the branches that 

 will not be remedied till all the constrained branches have been cut away. 

 Wherever, therefore, fruit is to be grown on a large scale, and in the most 

 economical manner, in orchards or in the open garden, it is found best to 

 let every tree take its natural shape, and confine the pruner and trainer to 

 such operations as do not greatly interfere with it. These are chiefly keep- 

 ing the tree erect with a straight stem, keeping the head well balanced, and 

 thinning out tlie branches where they are crowded or cross each other, oi 

 become weak or diseased. There are however many persons who have 

 small gardens, and who have leisure or means to attend or to procure atten- 

 tion to all the minutiae of culture, and to these some of the modes of training 

 protuberant dwarfs and standards may be of considerable importance, by 

 bringing the trees into a bearing state sooner than would be the case if they 

 were left to nature, and by producing much fruit in little space. 



793. The different modes of training fruit-trees against walls or espaliers, 

 may all be reduced to three forms or systems ; — the fan or palmate form, 

 which is the most natural mode, and that most generally applicable ; the 

 horizontal system, whicli is adapted to trees with strong stems, and of long 

 duration ; and the perpendicular system, which is chiefly adapted to climb- 

 ers, such as the vine. Trees trained by any of the above modes against a 

 wall or espalier are much more under the control of art than can ever be 

 the case with trees or bushes in the open garden; because in the latter case, the 

 whole tree as well as its branches are at all times more or less liable to be 

 put in motion by the wind, whereas against a wall they are fixed, and 

 have not the aid of motion to increase their thickness. For these reasons, 

 and also because flat training is applied to trees which as protuberant bushes 

 in the open garden would scarcely produce fruit at all, flat training cannot 

 be dispensed with. In making choice of a mode of flat training, the nature 

 of the tree, the climate, soil, and the object in view, must be jointly taken 



