582 



JOURNAL OF THE KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



neglected. Training trees as ornaments and the pruning of flowering 

 plants have for a long period been practised by our gardeners. Their 

 topiary work on ornamental evergreens, and pot-grown trees are 

 notorious. Our people admire some fruit trees for flowers rather than 

 for fruits. Gardeners have devoted their energies to raising novelties to 

 meet the demand for them, and have neglected trees in regard to their 

 pomological value. For example, flowering varieties of peaches, ume 

 trees, and quinces are carefully cultivated, but fruit-bearing ones are 

 comparatively neglected. 



Such circumstances have not tended to increase our skill in fruit- 

 growing, and have at least partly checked the progress of our orchard 

 work. 



Pears and vines are trained on a horizontal trellis made of bamboo 

 canes supported on wooden posts (figs. 167, 168, etc.). Eecently the 

 bamboo trellis has been replaced with wure trellis in some localities (fig. 

 173). It is called " tana," and such a mode of training is called " tana- 

 zukuri." The height of the trellis varies in different localities and with 

 the kind of fruits, but generally it is about 5 feet 6 inches (equal to the 

 average height of our adult man). Women and children can work at the 

 trellis by the aid of ladders or high wooden shoes, which are very popular 

 in this country. 



In training on supports, as it is restricted to the tana-training, our 

 growers, especially those near cities, have become very skilful. 

 In a pear-growing centre in the vicinity of Tokio trees over a century 

 old are growm by this system. The present system of training is 

 recorded as having been practised by our forefathers. It has spread 

 among growers throughout the country on account of the ease with 

 which the material for the trellis is obtained as well as for the simplicity 

 of the method. Bamboo canes, the principal material, can be got any- 

 where by every farmer and grower. It has long been the custom to 

 grow them for the purpose of using the young shoots as spring 

 vegetables and as windbreaks and for the protection of river embank- 

 ments. Even the small farmers can obtain them cheaply. 



Tana is constructed with long bamboo canes set about 1 to 2 feet apart 

 crosswise, and fixed immovably with straw ties. A rather large amount 

 of labour is required for their construction, but that does not much 

 trouble the growers, since it is usual to make the trellis in the winter. 



Young trees from the nursery are planted in a regular manner, and 

 are manured and allowed to make their own growth for three or four 

 years to enable them to root well. When the trees are fully established 

 with a strong root system, the branches springing about 5 feet from 

 the ground and growing erect are bent and fixed in position to the 

 trellis with straw ties. Afterwards these shoots form the arms. 

 Several shoots thus trained are fixed almost equidistant from each other. 

 On each arm spurs and the like growths are readily made, while any 

 effort to encourage their growth' is quite unnecessary. 



By these means, the arms being under similar conditions, it is 

 easier to bring them into equal grow^th and fruiting condition than by 



