64 



THE MINIATURE ERUIT GARDEN. 



canker, the roots should be annually root-pruned, or 

 the trees lifted — i. e., taken up and replanted. If, 

 however, the trees make shoots of only moderate vig- 

 or, and are healthy and fruitful, their roots may remain 

 undisturbed ; and pinching their shoots in summer, as 

 directed for pyramidal pears, page 9, and training 

 them in a proper direction, is all that they will want. 

 Pyramids on the Paradise stock may be planted four 

 feet apart in confined gardens ; five feet will give them 

 abundance of room ; but if, owing to the soil being of 

 extra fertility, they are found to require more, the 

 trees, if they have been root-pruned, may be removed 

 almost without receiving a check, even if they are 

 twenty years old. This is a great comfort to the ama- 

 teur gardener, who amuses himself with improving 

 his garden ; for how often does a favorite fruit tree, 

 which cannot be removed, prevent some projected im- 

 provement ! 



Apples differ greatly in their habits of growth ; 

 some are inclined to grow close and compact, like a 

 cypress — these are the proper sorts for pyramids ; 

 others, horizontally and crooked — these should be 

 grown as bushes ; others, again, are slender and thin 

 in their growth, so that, to form a good pyramid of 

 these slender-growing varieties, it is necessary to be- 

 gin the first year with a young tree, and to pinch the 

 leader as soon as it is six inches long. If by any neg- 

 lect the lower part of the pyramid be not furnished 

 with shoots, but have dormant buds, or buds with 

 only two or three leaves attached, a notch must be cut, 

 about half an inch in width, just above the bud from 

 which a shoot is required. This notch must be cut 



