120 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



In the case of cordons, the leader must be left to grow 

 ahead unchecked until the top of the wall is reached, which 

 has the result, as previously noticed, of natural fruit-buds 

 forming along the whole length ; but if they are shortened 

 back, coarse spurs are apt to form, and these during the growing 

 season throw out a quantity of breastwood. When cordons are 

 starting into growth and are fairly well advanced there some- 

 times appears a shoot here and there growing strongly ahead, 

 perhaps close to the top, and consequently the leader may be 

 suffering on account of this strong shoot drawing away the sap. 

 In cases of this kind it is much better to check these strong 

 shoots, so as to equalise the sap and throw the strength into 

 the leader. After a fairly long experience with cordon Pears, I 

 find the best course is to go over the trees about the middle of 

 June and shorten back the strongest shoots (not the leader) to 

 about five leaves, allowing the weaker to remain as they are, 

 and then towards the end of August to go over them again, 

 shortening back to four leaves or thereabouts. If the trees are 

 carrying a fan crop of fruit very little secondary growth will 

 follow ; but if it should, the bud at the end of each shoot will 

 almost invariably draw off the sap, and so prevent the starting 

 of what should be fruit-buds. The necessity of securing the 

 leading shoots, so as to prevent injury from wind, cannot be 

 over-estimated ; this should be done early in the season, as if 

 left for too long a time they cannot be trained in so evenly, and 

 are also apt to be broken from not being so pliable. These are 

 minor details, but they require close attention if well-trained 

 trees are desired. 



Coming now to the larger trained trees, such as fan-shaped, 

 horizontal, palmette Verrier, or whatever the form, the principle is 

 the same, even if the method be somewhat different. In training 

 the trees take particular care to lay the branches in straight. 

 With fan-trained trees in course of formation, it will be understood 

 that a sufficient quantity of shoots to form the tree will not be 

 able to start direct from the main stem, for if this were attempted 

 the branches would have to be very close together to start with, 

 and by the time they had reached the liinit of the wall they 

 would be very wide apart. It will, therefore, be necessary to 

 shorten the leaders at convenient distances, so as to enable a 

 well-balanced tree to be formed. With horizontals the central 



