A478 
twelve feet each way, and in then training the 
shoots from these perfectly upright to the top 
of the wall. This is now seldom practised here, 
excepting perhaps with fig-trees or white cur- 
rants. In some places, a few of the wall-trees 
are trained in a stellate form, the stem being 
led upright for about six feet, and then some 
branches trained downwards, others laterally, 
and others upwards. When walls exceed seven 
feet in height, the best gardeners seem to con- 
cur in giving the preference to the fan training, 
variously modified: in this way they find that a 
tree can much sooner be brought to fill its allot- 
ted space, and the loss of a branch can much 
more easily be supplied at any time. For lower 
walls, the horizontal method is preferred ; and 
the same plan is adopted almost universally on 
espalier rails. Mr. Hitt strongly recommends 
this mode for most sorts of wall-trees; and for 
pears he adopts what is called the screw stem, or 
training the stem in a serpentine manner, the 
branches going off horizontally as in the ordinary 
straight stem. 
In the first volume of the Transactions of the 
London Horticultural Society, Mr. Knight has 
made some ingenious and excellent remarks on 
the training and pruning of fruit-trees. His 
year-old plants are headed down as usual, early 
in the spring, and two shoots only are trained 
from each stem in opposite directions, and to an 
elevation of about 5°. To procure the shoots to 
be of equal lengths, the stronger is depressed, or 
the weaker elevated. All lateral shoots are de- 
stroyed. Thus far, it may be remarked, Mr. 
Knight’s method agrees very much with Hitt’s, 
described in his treatise on fruit-trees. This 
shape, Mr. Knight observes, ought to be given 
to young trees in the nursery, and is perhaps 
the only one that can be given to them without 
the risk of subsequent injury. Next season, as 
many branches are suffered to spring from each 
plant as can be conveniently trained, without 
shading each other; and by selecting the strong- 
est and earliest buds towards the points of the 
year-old branches, to be trained lowest, and the 
weakest and latest near their bases, to be trained 
inclining upwards, each annual shoot will be 
nearly equal in vigour. In the following win- 
ter, the shoots are alternately shortened and 
left at full length. In the course of the third 
year, if the tree be a peach, the central part 
consists of bearing wood: and, upon the whole, 
the size and general health of the trees trained 
in this way, afford evidence of a more regular 
distribution of the sap than Mr. Knight has 
witnessed in any other mode. 
The distance at which the branches are laid 
in, in all the different modes, varies from eight 
to ten inches, according to the nature of the 
tree, or the size of its foliage or fruit. While 
fan-trained trees are still in progress, a few more 
shoots are preserved at the summer pruning, 
than are likely to be ultimately laid in; this is. 
for fear of accidents. Trees that have filled the 
spaces allotted to them, are disbudded of most of 
the wood-buds that appear. _Wood-buds on old 
spurs are always displaced. Trees which are in 
training for the horizontal method require dif- 
ferent management. The leading stem is con- 
stantly to be attended to; all the buds that ap- 
pear on it are carefully preserved, till enough be 
procured to lay right and left, and form the tree. 
All wood-buds on the horizontal: branches, ex- 
cepting the leading one, are displaced. ‘The fan- 
training is considered as hest for apricots, cher- 
ries, and plums, placed against walls, even though 
the walls be low. None of these kinds of fruit an- 
swer well for espaliers; cherries or plums suc- 
ceed better as half standards or dwarf standards. 
The wall-trees which have now been spoken of 
are called dwarfs by the gardeners. It is a very 
common practice to train high standards on the 
intermediate spaces between the dwarf trees; 
such trees are in Scotland termed riders. Plants 
four or five years old are preferred, because they 
are but temporary, and the object is to get fruit 
as soon as possible. Some good judges have con- 
demned this plan of temporary trees as hurtful; 
being calculated to deprive the permanent trees 
of a proportion of the nourishment which they 
would otherwise draw from the border; but if 
the border be tolerably rich, and be only slightly 
cropped with herbaceous plants, it does not seem 
likely that the temporary trees can do much 
injury. 
Espatier Trees—Some horticulturists have pro- 
posed to banish espalier-trees altogether, alleging 
that they injure the kitchen-garden quarters, by 
depriving them of sun and air. But though 
they are sometimes injurious by depriving the 
plants of air, they are at other times very useful, 
acting as a hedge in protecting the young crops 
from the violence of strong winds, Hspalier-trees 
generally produce excellent fruit, the sun and air 
having access to both sides of the tree ; they com- 
monly afford abundant crops, and the fruit is | 
not apt to be shaken by high winds. Further, 
they tend to hide the crops of culinary vegeta- 
bles from the eye, and to render the walk of the 
kitchen garden as pleasant as an avenue in the 
shrubbery. Apples and pears are the fruits best 
suited for espaliers. The apples are generally graft- 
ed on crab stocks, to keep them of moderate size ; 
or, if the tree be wished still smaller, on Dutch 
paradise stocks. The distance allowed between the 
former is from 30 to 40 feet ; between the latter, 
25 is found sufficient. These may seem large 
spaces at first; and, to take away the naked ap- 
pearance, a small cherry-tree, or white currant 
bush, is sometimes planted in each interval. It 
is to be studied that, in the same line of rail, 
trees of similar growth be planted; so that the 
whole may be nearly equally filled. The trees, 
when planted, should be of one year’s growth, or 
at most of two years. If the rail be not pre- 
viously erected, so that the branches can be tied 
