59 
290 Fruit Trees, summer disbudding and stopping. This, if 
not the most regular, will at least be the most seasonable, mode 
of proceeding with our subject. Disbudding, although in itself a 
simple operation, is one, it may be readily conceived, of such 
power that a tree may be quickly destroyed by pushing the oper- 
ation to an extreme. It would appear that its immediate effect is 
to paralyse the action of the root, and consequently is antago- 
nistic to over luxuriance. It will also be found to limit, in some 
degree, the ultimate size or extension of the tree; and therefore 
is a necessary operation in carrying out a dwarfing system; 
or, in other words, to produce a maximum amount of fruit, in a 
minimum degree of space. 
One object, however, of greater and more immediate import- 
ance, is the free admission of light to all parts of the tree; and 
1 think it will suffice for the present, to confine my observations 
principally to this view of the subject. It will be obvious, on 
the slightest consideration of the subject, that without much sun- 
light on the leaf, there can be no properly elaborated or ripened 
fruit buds. Now this degree of light is more especially required 
to act on the leaves belonging to the embryo buds or spurs, 
which are ultimately to produce the fruit. The Plum, the Apri- 
cot, the Pear, the Apple, and the Red and White Currants, are 
instances of fruit trees bearing principally on spurs; whilst the 
Raspberry, the Black Currant, the Vine, the Peach, and the 
Morello Cherry, produce the chief of their crop on the young 
shoots. Hence it becomes manifest, that those trees which pro- 
duce their fruit on spurs, and are trained artificially, must have 
a very considerable portion of their annual shoots removed, or 
stopped, in order to admit light. I may digress to observe, 
that the old maxim, “prevention is better than cure,” is especi- 
ally applicable here. By the platform mode, so well adapted to 
a dwarfing system, in small gardens, the trees will make a very 
small amount of superfluous wood; it therefore saves much 
trouble in this respect ; and, in a great degree, supersedes the 
necessity of violent operations, which must certainly be consi- 
dered in the light of sheer necessity. These preliminaries 
being established, I will now proceed to offer a few words of 
advice about disbudding; and for the sake of simplicity, will 
generalize the matter, as the whole in detail would occupy too 
much space. 
S70. AUCTARIUM. 
