July 8. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
225 
unnecessary to observe, that the production of such 
gives to the trees a most confused appearance; nor is 
this the whole of the evil; its immediate tendencies 
are to rob the fruit of a portion of their nourishment, 
and to decoy the flow of sap too much from the fruitful 
wood—indeed, the former is, in the main, a mere con¬ 
sequence of the latter. 
Besides all this, it produces a most inconvenient and 
prejudicial degree of shade, leading to immaturity in 
the wood and the embryo spurs, and a consequent in¬ 
fertility. Thus, then, stands the case as to its present 
hearing; hut this condition is fraught with consequences 
affecting the tree in future years. An almost invincible 
coarseness of habit is engendered—a tendency to pro¬ 
duce wood rather than fruit, and that too of a succulent 
or immature character. Hence the necessity for severe 
root-pruning, or a total removal of the tree; and al¬ 
though root-pruning cannot he estimated too highly as 
a remedial measure, preventives are by far preferable. 
As to such wood being a robber of the fruit, any one 
may soon be convinced of this by obtaining a peach or 
pear-tree which has become unequal in condition 
through mismanagement or neglect in this respect. 
Such trees may be found in most gardens, the lower 
portions luxuriating in this breast wood, whilst some of 
the upper or extreme portions, covered it may he with 
fruit, have scarcely produced any wood. Hero the very 
portions which most need the assistance of the life- 
giving fluids are worst supplied, the ascending current 
being arrested and appropriated by the greedy breast 
shoots. This state long continued, the extremities 
wear themselves out by hearing and partial starvation ; 
a drying-up gradually taking place in the sap-vessels, 
whilst the coarse breast shoots have been in vain at¬ 
tempting to escape the trammels of man — trying to 
gain their liberty. All this happens in strict accord¬ 
ance with those laws which determine the flow of the 
sap, and the habit of growth of the tree—a habit which 
man is compelled to control and regulate in order to 
render the tree subservient to his purposes. This brings 
us to the measures necessary to he pursued under such 
circumstances. 
We have, in previous papers, suggested a close atten¬ 
tion to the young shoots in May, at what is broadly 
termed “ disbudding ” season. Here, to pursue first-rate 
practice, the preventive measures should commence. 
Unluckily, however, most people are too busy to he able 
to carry out the proper course. Very few gardeners in 
the country are allowed the proper amount of labour 
through May and June ; hut if ever it should he our lot 
to attain to a coronet, or even reach that round of the 
social ladder on which stands the country squire, we 
shall make a point of giving our gardener a carte blanche 
in regard of the amount of labour during those two 
months, however we might arrange during the rest of 
the year. No man knows the consequence of a scant of 
labour in spring hut the gardener; and we can only 
repeat that it is anything but a gain to those who have 
to pay the piper. But to our track. The preventive 
measures in May consist in first totally disbudding all 
gross shoots assuming the character of superfluous 
breast wood. Next in order, and following on the 
heels of that operation, should commence the pinching 
process; and, in order that our readers may have the 
rationale of every proceeding, it may be observed that 
two reasons exist for this operation; the one a matter 
of expediency, the other based on a principle. It may 
here he noticed, that early pinching or stopping is not 
resorted to simply to admit light, although it must be 
confessed this is one of the reasons; it is resorted to, 
also, in order to control the over vigorous root action, a 
power which at this early period it exercises with much 
influence. Trees cannot long continue exuberant with¬ 
out a reciprocation between root and branch, and the 
strongest subject may soon he conquered by using this 
power with an unsparing hand. To illustrate this, we 
would point to the means sometimes employed to extir¬ 
pate some of our worst weeds, when they prevail to an 
extent which precludes the chance of pulling them ! 
entirely up. For instance, the nettle, the dock, the hear- | 
hind, or wild convolvolus, and thistle: who does not 
know that by an early mowing or cutting, and this re¬ 
peated a few times, such may he eradicated without the 
labour of taking them up ? We have known a vast 
extent of nettles thus destroyed ; and for that predatory 
rogue, the “ bear-hind,” there is nothing like a beheading 
the moment it is up, and a constant repetition of the 
same through the season. This points to the power pos¬ 
sessed by the tree manager in disbudding and stopping, 
or pinching; and it is good practice to go over the trees 
once a-week, pinching a few shoots every time, if neces¬ 
sary, until all the grosser shoots are gone over, which will 
bring the operator to about the present period: say to 
the end of June, when other measures should he resorted 
to. The trees, by this time, will have become moderated 
in their luxuriance, and training must he commenced. 
And now a clever selection must he made of the neces¬ 
sary quantity of fruitful shoots, both as leaders, and to 
tie down on the main stems—a practice we must con¬ 
tinue to advocate. 
Before proceeding to the training, we would here 
wish to offer a caution as pertaining to the pinching 
and disbudding; and that is, to refrain from pinching 
wood of any kind about the terminal point of each 
branch, or, in other words, about the leaders. The 
reasons for this were given at the commencement of 
this letter ; the object being to draw that sap freely to 
the extremities which was in danger of being arrested 
and appropriated by the barren breast wood. This 
caution, of course, applies chiefly to old or bearing 
trees, in which the points have become lean through 
much hearing. Those who have been accustomed to 
watch the peach, the pear, &e., as we have, closely at 
all periods during the last thirty years, will readily 
know what we mean. The inexperienced must take 
the pains of studying their trees under different phases; 
they will find it like all the Creator’s works, a very 
interesting study, and containing numerous points too 
apt to he lost to the ordinary observer. 
Such things being duly attended to, the next point is. 
to look well after all leading shoots, and to see them 
carefully trained. Before the end of July, many dash¬ 
ing storms may have to he encountered; and the young 
leaders, soused in heavy rains, are exceedingly liable to 
get broken. All leaders, indeed, should be “laid in” 
before Midsummer. And next, let a necessary amount 
of short-jointed spray he tied down or nailed on or be¬ 
tween the main branches, taking care not to crowd them. 
In doing thus, an attentive eye must he had to the 
character of the young spray in all kinds of trees, for it 
differs much in character. It will he seen that we are 
generalising the matter; to handle every fruit in detail, 
would be either to tire the patience of our readers, or to 
preclude the possibility of handling in speedy succession 
other branches of fruit-culture. Yet a little particu¬ 
larising may be necessary. The best wood of the peach 
is of middling strength, neither succulent nor lean, 
and by no means of an alternate character. All such 
spray as produces axillary or subordinate side spray, 
necessarily at an advanced period, is to he avoided, 
provided better is at hand; it may he pruned hack to 
two or three leaves, and left for the winter pruner 
Equally to he avoided are weak and lank shoots. In 
the pear, most of those young shoots which are pre- | 
disposed to a fruitful habit, either cease to lengthen 
about Midsummer, or become thickened, hardened, and 
assume a brownish tint about that time, whilst what j 
gai-deners term “ watery spray ” will lengthen for weeks, I 
