THE GARDEN ALBUM AND REVIEW. 
71 
older wood. It is from this the fruit “ spurs ” 
—short, sturdy, knotty-looking shoots are 
developed in the course of time by intelligent 
summer pruning. 
A glance of any of these fruit trees in the 
early summer months will at once convince 
the observer that three distinct kinds of shoots 
are borne on the main stems. First of all 
there is the vigorous shoot on which the leaves 
are separated from each other by a long inter¬ 
node. These may grow from two to six feet 
in length during the season unless checked at 
the right time. Anyway, they bear no fruit 
nor anything like it the first season. At the 
same time they drain the sap from the roots, 
and exclude the air and light from the ripened 
framework of the tree. It is essential, there¬ 
fore, to check their career before they attain 
too great a length. This is done by pinching 
the tips out when they are from six inches to a 
foot long. Care must be taken, however, not 
to pinch back very strong shoots too close to 
the main stem, as the result would probably be 
a mass of still younger shoots from the buds 
left behind. These buds should really remain 
dormant during the season, and store up 
nourishment for next year's work. By allow¬ 
ing a fair number of leaves to remain on each 
pinched shoot, the sap is thus drawn past the 
buds without causing them to sprout. 
Another kind of shoot to be noticed on fruit 
trees is a short one on which the leaves are 
arranged quite close together, and almost form a 
rosette round the terminal bud. These short 
shoots are really in their second season growth, 
and are usually those which are storing up mat¬ 
erial for the production of flowers and fruits the 
following year. Being short and sturdy, with¬ 
out internodes between the leaves, and quite 
unlike the long growths of the current year, 
there is no necessity to interfere with them 
unless indeed they are in such abundance that 
disbudding in the most crowded parts would be 
beneficial. 
The third kind of shoot to be observed on 
the trees is that which is actually bearing 
blossom. In the dormant state in winter this 
was represented by a cluster of fat roundish 
buds, quite distinct from those of the first or 
second season growth. Naturally such buds 
are not cut away with the pruning knife in 
winter by the trained gardener; but how 
frequently does it happen that they are removed 
altogether by the inexperienced operator, with 
the result that each year a mass of strong 
sappy shoots, but neither flowers nor fruit, 
result ? 
Observation of these important differences 
between the three different kinds of growth on 
fruit trees, and the suppression to within 
reasonable limits of the strong young shoots in 
summer, will enable one to treat his fruit trees 
in such a way that they will be kept within 
bounds, and yet produce plenty of fruit. 
HORSE CHESTNUTS and BUCK-EYES. 
The month of May is always associated with 
the flowering of the Horse Chestnuts, and 
special pilgrimages are made to Bushey Park, 
near Hampton Court, on a certain Sunday in 
the month to see them in blossom. 
The ordinary Horse Chestnut (TEsculus 
Hippocastanum) is so commonly seen on the 
English landscape that one would almost 
imagine it to be a native of Britain. It is, 
however, a native of the mountainous regions 
of South-eastern Europe and Asia Minor, and 
belongs to the same natural family as the 
Sycamore and Maple (Sapindaceae). It was 
introduced about the latter half of the 16th 
century, and although useless as a timber tree 
is highly appreciated for its shade and orna¬ 
mental appearance. It is readily recognised 
by means of its seven or eight coarsely toothed 
leaflets radiating from the top of a common 
stalk, by its erect pyramidal trusses of white 
flowers tinged and speckled with red. 
Besides the ordinary Horse Chestnut there 
are others not so well known, nor yet so orna¬ 
mental from a landscape point of view. Amongst 
these may be mentioned the Californian Horse 
Chestnut (IE. californica), which attains a 
height of 40 feet in its native country, and bears 
sweet-scented white or pale rose flowers. The 
Scarlet Chestnut (variously known as IE. carnea, 
IE. coccinea, and IE. rubicunda), is also a native 
of North America, and grows about 20 feet high. 
Its scarlet flowers appear in June. 
The Chinese Horse Chestnut (IE. chinensis) 
grows wild on the mountains around Pekin. 
It produces its creamy-white flowers somewhat 
later in the season than the ordinary kind. 
The smooth-leaved Horse Chestnut (yE. 
glabra) comes from North America, and is 
recognised by its smooth leaves, cut into five 
leaflets, and its greenish-yellow T flowers. 
The Indian Horse Chestnut (IE. indica), as 
the name indicates, comes from northern 
India, and has white flowers tinged with red, 
the upper petals being yellow and white. 
Closely related to the Horse Chestnuts 
proper are the Buck-Eyes. These were at one 
time considered a distinct race and were 
botanically known under the name of Pavia, 
one of the most prominent differences being 
the absence of prickles on the fruit capsules. 
The Sweet Buck-Eye (HU flava) is a 
beautiful North American tree about 25 feet 
high. The leaves consist of 5 to 7 elliptic 
oblong leaflets, while the tubular flowers are 
pale yellow, or yellow tinged with red or 
purple in some varieties. 
The Dwarf Buckeye (HU parviflora) rarely 
grows more than 9 feet high, and produces its 
white flowers in long racemes from April 
to July. It is a native of N. America. 
The Red Buckeye (SE. rubra) is perhaps the 
best known. It is indigenous to North 
America, and forms a graceful tree in English 
gardens. The flowers are bright red, and borne 
in loose clusters in May and June. 
