146 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 4. 
Fan-training is what we must beg to recommend for 
the cherry in general; and it is obvious that with the 
grosser-growing kinds with large leaves, either the first 
trained shoots in the young tree must be placed a great 
distance apart, in order that the young shoots, ultimately 
produced, may be nailed between; or, that the first 
shoots being put the ordinary thickness, much sacrifice of 
young wood must be made ; or they must be tied down 
on the succession plan. The latter is our practice, and 
we beg to recommend it. The egregious folly of the 
cultivator’s placing himself in such a position, as to 
become compelled to cut the chief of his young wood 
away, and leave his trees almost naked stumps, is so 
manifest, that the least solid consideration of the true 
position of the question ought to teach the cultivator to 
provide better against the reckless pruning-knife. We 
advise those, therefore, who have the large-leaved 
cherries laid in too thickly, to re-arrange them, so that 
most of the young shoots they have produced may 
be trained in, or tied down upon the older and barren 
wood, as the case may be; for assuredly cherries of this 
habit do not produce much surplus young shoots, pro¬ 
viding that they are anticipated, and a provision made 
for their future training. Under such circumstances, 
most of the young shoots may be tied down, or other¬ 
wise encouraged; no two, however, should be permitted 
to lie abreast of each other; where two shoots are 
produced in a parallel direction, within about four 
inches of each other, one must, of necessity, be “spurred 
back,” leaving about one inch at the lower end, which 
will prove a nucleus for future blossom-buds. No 
shortening back is requisite with the cherry in general. 
The only cases which can justify the practice, are, on 
the one part, crippled, or distorted points, and the neces¬ 
sity that exists in young trees to “ prune for wood a 
practice heretofore explained, but which, it may be 
repeated, signifies an attempt by pruning, to cause one 
healthy shoot to subside into some three or four; for by 
such means is the desired form of the tree ultimately 
completed. The rest of the Cherry pruning resolves 
itself into thinning away cross shoots in standard trees, 
and those interior shoots which become crowded, and in 
consequence deprived of a fair share of light. As before 
observed, the length of the leaf in each kind may be 
fairly taken as the distance at which young shoots may 
be retained, observing, in all cases, to avoid two strictly 
parallel shoots; rather choosing a succession, one 
following speedily on the heels of another. 
The Morello. —Here the foliage being very diminu¬ 
tive, nearly double the number of young twigs may be 
reserved as compared witli even the Duke section. This 
tree is a pretty good illustration of Mr. Hoare’s observa¬ 
tions on the habits of the vine—viz., that solid wood is 
a detraction from the general stock of the alimentary 
juices ; for what tree is there in the fruit-garden that 
will produce such a quantity of line fruit as the Morello, 
with so small an amount of timber in "the aggregate ? 
Here the whole of the powers seem bent on the produc¬ 
tion of fruit; and when it is taken into consideration 
how seldom we know the Morello to miss a crop, or, in 
other words, what an excellent “ setter ” it is, we shall 
find in it one of the most useful trees in the garden. The 
Morello,then,requires but little “thinningout;” indeed, 
the avoidance of two young shoots immediately side by 
side constitutes the chief rule of pruning. Here, again, 
no shortening back is requisite, indeed, it is positively 
injurious in the bearing trees; as the principal, and in 
some cases the only real good w'ood-bud is at the terminal 
point; shortening, therefore, must in general be 
avoided. Through scantiness of the true wood-biuls on 
aged trees of this kind, they are apt to lose many shoots; 
as they increase in age, they die off, or become almost 
denuded of useful young shoots. Such, therefore, have 
to be pruned away, or the tree assumes a dilapidated 
appearance. The pruning these long barren shoots 
away, generally causes a re-arrangement of some portion 
of the trees, if not of the whole. Now this is rather a 
serious item in point of the time it requires, where 
people are pressed with business; and, therefore, it may 
suffice in general to simply cut out the dead shoots an¬ 
nually, and to clear away all the partially barren shoots 
once in two years. 
This two years’ examination should be a thorough one. 
Many long branches will be found with not more than 
a shoot or two on them. These may be cut clean out at 
their point cf junction with the old limb, unless some 
favourable shoots, adapted for leaders, appear in the 
course of their length. It is generally best in this two 
years’ revision, to untie or unnail the whole tree, and to 
give it a new arrangement. Of course all young trees, 
destined to cover trellisses of any particular character, 
must be pruned and trained during the first two or three 
years, with a direct relation to that character, making it 
a point at all times to secure the most jiowerful shoots 
for the lowest situations', for the centre is generally 
capable of taking care of itself. Indeed, the same may 
be said as to the walls, and shortening back must be 
resorted to during the first three years, more or 
less, in order to produce the requisite number of shoots. 
It so happens that the younger Cherry trees are, the 
more prolific they are in wood-buds, and therefore 
pruning-back may be at that period safely practised. 
This remark applies to the whole family. 
R. Ereington. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Companion to the Calendar eor December. —The 
flower-gardener has plenty to think about, and to occupy 
all his time, this month. All his stock for next year 
requires more attention now than at any other time. 
Cold pits are the most difficult to manage; soft young 
plants being so liable to damp off, if the lights are kept 
close, that they require a watchful eye almost every 
day. The usual way of sliding down the lights from the 
back to give air, is very objectionable all through the 
dull months; by far the best plan is to raise them up a 
few inches at both back and front at the same time, 
because that will create a current of air to pass over the 
plants. To make sure work of it, there ought to be two 
fiat pieces of wood for each light, and they should be 
three inches thick and six or seven inches long, and 
fastened to the back and front plates by pieces of strong 
twine, so as to be always at hand. There should also 
be a wedge-stick for each light, to drive in between the 
lights and the rafters during high winds, so that the 
lights do not get blown off'; whenever air is left on at 
night these wedge-sticks should be in their places, in 
case of a sudden change to windy weather when we are 
in bed. Instead of these simple precautions, nine 
persons out of ten shut up their frames and pits in the 
afternoon, let the weather be what it may; and when 
they find their plants slipping through their fingers, 
owing to damp and diseases brought on by this way of 
stifling, away they write to the The Cottage Gardener 
for prescriptions, and wonder how it is that they cannot 
keep their plants as the gardeners do. The next great 
point, after a thorough ventilation, day and night, 
whenever the weather is not frosty, is to have the 
pits, the pots, and surface mould, as clean as a bed¬ 
room, and no yellow leaves or mouldy shoots to be 
allowed to remain one day. After that, special care 
must be taken not to spill water about at the time of 
watering the plants; and unless the pots are very dry 
indeed, and the plants in danger, not to water them at 
all in dull, cloudy weather. If the damp air is allowed 
to circulate freely among the leaves, it is astonishing 
