142 
Garden Work 
in the case of the Plum, where some of the young wood 
has to be left for fruiting. When nice young fruiting 
shoots can be left, some of the older branches may be 
cut out to make room for them. 
In some favourable seasons the weight of fruit is so 
great that the trees would be destroyed if left unattended. 
The fruit should be thinned out so as not unduly to exhaust 
the tree, and the branches should be propped up, for if 
allowed to hang down, owing to the weight of fruit, they 
will not go back to their original position when the fruit 
has been picked. 
Practically the same rules apply to standards, though 
the trees are higher. The ground under these can be 
more easily worked, and bush fruit may be grown between 
them. 
On walls, the Plum is generally grown on the fan 
system of training. The nature of its growth lends itself 
especially to this system. Starting with the maiden tree 
again, the main shoot should be cut down to within 8 or 
9 in. of the base, and three shoots only allowed to grow. 
These in turn should be cut well back the following season, 
and two shoots only allowed to grow from each. This 
should form the foundation of the tree. The future prun- 
ing and training will consist in cutting out all weak and 
unnecessary shoots, and “laying in ” strong ones at regular 
intervals, spreading out the main branches, and “ laying 
in ” the young ones between as growth goes on. On no 
account should the bottom branches be taken down too 
early into the horizontal position, or they will not grow 
so rapidly as the more upright ones, and consequently the 
appearance of the tree will be spoiled. They should even 
