112 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



summer — or, indeed, any — pruning is really needed. This being 

 so, some would perhaps say, " If there is such difference of 

 opinion, who is to decide which is the correct mode ? " or, " If 

 such differences of opinion exist, it can surely matter but very 

 little whether summer pruning is practised or not." 



I am fully convinced myself that when it is judiciously per- 

 formed summer pruning is one of the greatest possible aids 

 towards the successful cultivation of fruit in the open air ; and 

 amongst really practical gardeners I do not believe there is any 

 difference of opinion as to the system itself, but only as to the 

 time and manner of performing it. At the same time there ap- 

 pears to be amongst some an increasing tendency to allow out- 

 door fruit-trees to grow with far greater freedom, and to allow 

 them to assume what is called a natural form, with but little, if 

 any, pruning at all. And this, I think, is an evil ; for if trees 

 are allowed to carry their whole natural free growth they will 

 soon become so crowded that, instead of being able to produce 

 fruit of fine quality, it will be small in size and poor in flavour, 

 and only appear at the outer edge of the tree, and not equally 

 over the whole, as it does when the growth is kept well balanced 

 by judicious pruning, and light and sunshine have free access to 

 all parts. There can be no mistake as to the ill effect, so plainly 

 visible to all competent observers, of the rigidly pruned-in sys- 

 tem ; but do not let us go to the other extreme and allow the 

 trees to grow into a tangled mass for the want of a little timely 

 attention and restraint. 



Considering the great extent to which the cultivation of fruit 

 is now engrossing public attention, it will be as well perhaps to 

 consider more at length which is the best system to adopt, and 

 what advantages are likely to be obtained by what I may term a 

 judicious system of summer pruning. 



Summer pruning is not by any means a novel process, for, 

 although the cultivation of fruit-trees has advanced considerably 

 during the past few years, summer pruning in some form or 

 other was practised years ago, but whether judiciously or not 

 is at present an open question ; though until quite recently the 

 past generation of gardeners, or rather their practice, was 

 held up to younger cultivators as a beacon light towards which 

 they should all steer. Those bygone gardeners prided them- 

 selves especially upon their correct methods of training fruit-trees, 



