August 25. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
397 
remove these ambiguities, and the veil which covered 
the fair face of horticulture ; and I believe it. The time 
draws near, I am persuaded, when the great principles— 
which, though few and simple, are grand and abiding 
as to their influence on gardening affairs—will be as 
patent as the air we breathe; and processes hitherto 
considered necessarily doubtful be reduced to almost 
mathematical precision. 
So much for an exordium to a very simple tale; 
which, after all, lies, as they say, in a nutshell. Let me 
repeat now my text, “ What shall we do for our tender 
fruit-trees in September?” The wood must be ripened, 
and that, too, through the influence of solar light and 
warmth; shade, therefore, of any and every kind is 
averse to this process. There are, of course, several 
kinds of shade, such as the shade of trees overhead ; the 
shade of adjacent standard fruit-trees; the shade of 
walls, buildings, projections, &c. ; and last, the shade of 
the tree itself, a sort of suicidal affair. It will be seen, 
that in the latter case, I mean principally the shade 
created by neglect of timely dressing in our trained 
fruit trees. 
It will be well, I flunk, for those of our readers, who 
are not fully imbued with the importance of this subject, 
to go over some of our fruits ; pointing to their probable 
or possible position after one of the wettest and cloudiest 
summers on record ; strong and healthy fruit-trees, not 
oppressed of late with much bearing; young trees which 
have not commenced; and many of those planted in 
soils rich in humus or manurial matters, will, in con¬ 
sequence of the vast amount of both ground and air- 
moisture, during part of Juno and July, have shown a 
constant disposition to produce a profusion of laterals, 
as well as great extension in the leading shoots. 
Laterals, as before observed, produce shade, and the 
latter ever has a tendency to produce barrenness. 
The season has been somewhat unusual, and will justify 
our resorting to extra means in order to promote 
fertility. 
The Apricot. —Here we have a subject which differs 
somewhat in habit from most of our fruit-trees: to 
which shall we compare it? Perhaps the Plum; indeed, 
if there were not some kind of affinity, our nurserymen 
would not “ work” the Apricot on the Plum stock. 
Apricots possess a singularity of habit in this respect; 
they grow rather impulsively. A healthy Moor-park, 
during the end of July and the early part of August, 
will produce two or three generations of laterals, stop 
or pinch how you may. But no sooner does the out-of- 
doors thermometer descend somewhat below (>0°, on the 
average, than our hitherto fast friend becomes paralysed, 
for Apricots cannot endure a low temperature whilst 
in a growing state. Every breast-shoot which is not 
wanted should be pruned to within about three eyes by 
the third week in August, at latest; for every ray of sun¬ 
light after that period is needed to complete and ripen 
the newly-formed buds on the fruit-spur on the young 
shoots. If any gross leading shoots are still making 
way, off with their heads in true Chinese style—let 
there be no hesitation. All growths made after this 
period only serve to increase pruning in winter; to i 
waste the true energies of the trees; aud to interfere 
with that high course of concentration and elaboration, 
so essential to tender fruits, and so conducive to a 
healthily-developed blossom in the ensuing spring. 
Pears. —Little need be said as to Pear treatment in 
addition to the Apricot. One thing I would especially 
refer to, as a particular feature in Pears, and it is this : 
we frequently find trained branches, some ten or twelve 
l’eet from the bole, totally bare of extending shoots, and 
at the same time no lack of breast-shoots in their lower 
portion. Now, as I have to advise that a general stop¬ 
ping be practised immediately, I at the same time claim 
an exception for any growing shoots towards the 
extremities of such branches. The fact is, that such 
branches have generally been too much emptied of the 
true sa]> towards their extremities by former crops to 
leave sufficient energies for the production of a liberal 
amount of new wood. The sap-vessels thereby become 
constricted, and hence Nature speedily forms other and 
more reciprocal channels lower down. This is merely 
a topical affair, and simply requires that every rambling 
shoot be left growing to the end of the season; and thus, 
after the breast-wood is all stopped in other portions, 
any growing action remaining in such parts will appro¬ 
priate much of the proceeds of the remaining root- 
action ; the vessels will again expand, and both fruit 
and buds will receive their proper amount of sap. This, 
at least, is my view of the matter, based on much ex¬ 
perience, and annually confirmed by continual observa¬ 
tion. But, it may be remembered, that this view of the 
sap-action in trees is not confined to the Pear alone; 
neither to fruits: the whole vegetable kingdom, with 
few exceptions, is liable to be thus affected. 
I do, therefore, think that it is of immense benefit to 
trained Pears to stop every growing point, with the ex¬ 
ception of those at the extreme end of each branch, by 
the middle of August; and not only this, but to remove 
as much of all lateral wood as casts a shadow on the 
embryo or would-be bloom-spurs. I had verily intended 
to go over each of our hardy fruits, but, as I proceed, 
I feel that there is little occasion; such would, of neces¬ 
sity be, in the main, repetition. With a little modifica¬ 
tion, based on the individual characteristics of the kind, 
the same principles will apply to all, at least, all from 
milder climates. 
And now, as the summer has been of a special cha- 
i racter, our advice must be special too ; and here 1 must 
give a turn to our chat, and advert to root-pruning. Some 
I people may think that it is a strange time of year to refer 
! to this, commonly a winter procedure; but*! have met 
with cases in which it has proved of much benefit in 
j the month of August or September. I certainly am not 
! disposed to advocate root-pruning to subjects already 
j oppressed with fruit-bearing : such need it not; indeed, 
j it would prove ruinous. But, where trees are troubled 
j with an almost invincible coarseness or exuberance of 
' spray and foliage, in consequence of much ground 
moisture and humidity of air during the chief summer 
■ months, then, I say, root-prune betimes, especially if 
the early autumn present untoward symptoms, and 
cloudy weather prevail. I have, years since, root-pruned, 
in September, subjects of gross habits, until the very 
foliage of the tree flagged, and have noticed good results 
from the practice; some moderation, however, must be 
observed. 
Those who are disposed to follow this advice, may 
excavate a trench at a good distance from the tree, so 
as simply to cut the very extremities of the roots ; this 
will give an instant check, in a moderated way, to the 
growth, and cause, through an early cessation of the 
active principle, a somewhat early rest, and a conse¬ 
quent solidifying of the wood—the chief point aimed at. 
If the subject be very gross indeed, they may steal a 
further march on the roots in the first" week of No¬ 
vember, by digging and cutting a foot or more nearer 
to the stem of the tree ; this will tame, for a year or two, 
the most unruly fruit tree, and speedily induce a fruit¬ 
ful habit. In fine, as the summer has had a decided 
tendency to produce a coarse habit in young or un¬ 
fruitful trees, a watchful eye should be had over them, 
for a timely procedure, as here suggested, will assuredly 
be more profitable and convenient than the let-alone- 
plan. Even if all our fruit-trees were planted by men 
who really thoroughly understood them, yet still would 
some disappointments ensue. If the preparations were 
made to suit hot summers, wet ones would set at nought 
the skill exercised, and vice versa. And even if a middle 
