MA.Y. 
91 
Flowers deficient in substance, as many of these are, should not be suffered 
to expand fully. A silken thread should be tied round each to preserve a 
globular form to the flowers. The march of improvement has belonged to the 
single rather than to the double flowers; but it would seem that efforts are 
now being made to improve the latter, an earnest of which Mr. Paul has 
instanced in the flowers mentioned above. 
Quo. 
REMARKS ON FRUIT TREE CULTURE.—No. 9. 
Resuming the subject of the treatment of the Peach tree on walls, I 
would observe, that the process of disbudding, or the entire removal of certain 
shoots, should always take place when they are in a very young state—that is 
to say, before they have very much grown out. In this respect the operator 
must be guided by the season, because it often happens that a week’s sun and 
mild temperature towards the end of March will start the buds into growth, 
to be succeeded by, perhaps, a month of easterly winds, and a cold, parching, 
low temperature, which will keep them in much the same state, so that they 
are better left on because of the partial shelter they will afford to those shoots 
which will eventually have to be left. When, however, through the advance 
of the season, a growing temperature may be reasonably calculated upon, the 
process should commence at once, otherwise much strength is needlessly 
wasted, because every shoot takes a portion of the nourishment sent up by 
the roots, and the more the superfluous shoots are allowed to absorb, the worse 
it is for the permanent ones. 
The operation is of itself a most important one, and its objects should be 
well understood and carefully studied. When this is the case, no indiscrimi¬ 
nate or haphazard performance will satisfy the careful operator. Many persons 
remove the shoots by a backward stroke with the finger and thumb; but I 
consider it always best to use a small and keen-edged knife, and at the first 
going-over to remove all the foreright shoots, or such as are likely to project 
outwards from the wall; the next time, which will be after an interval of a 
week or ten days, to thin out the remaining shoots, so as to leave them equi¬ 
distant along the branch—say about 3 inches apart; and, after another interval, 
to go over them again, and select the shoots which are to be left to grow on- 
say one at or near to the bottom of the shoot, and the other at the extremity, 
By following this principle out with each shoot, there will always be a sufficient 
supply of bearing wood kept up to furnish the tree. The remainder of the } 7 oung 
shoots must then be stopped at a point which will leave at least three well- 
developed leaves. If the tree is very vigorous four may be left, because it is 
probable that the two extreme buds will break again, and after a time these 
must be again stopped short, and the same process continued all through the 
summer and autumn, as long as they show any signs of breaking into growth, 
always being careful to retain the healthy leaves left on at the first pinching- 
back, because on their being carefully retained depends the formation of fruit- 
buds for spurs. 
In the meantime, the permanent and unstopped shoots will require to be 
trained-in to the wall as they advance in growth ; and, as in healthy and vigorous 
trees a number of them will always be found breaking into a strong lateral 
growth at the extremities, it will be necessary towards the end of August to 
shorten them back to the lowest lateral, which must then be trained on as a 
leader. In older trees which have become partially exhausted of the vigour 
which characterises their youth, this tendency to the production of laterals on 
the young shoots is very greatly diminishedbut, nevertheless, it is a good 
