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growing on soil with an injurious substratum, could the pnming-knife be applied to
thcir descending and diseased roots annually, the advantages would be considerable. The
practice of laying bare the roots of trees to expose them to the frost, and render the tree
fruitful, is mentioned by Evelyn and other writers of his time; but in doing so, it does
not appear that pruning was any part of their object. The pruning of roots can therefore
only take place, according to the present state of things, in the interval between
taking up and replanting. • As such roots arc generally small, and some of tlicm broken or
injured, all that the pruner has to do, is to facilitate the healing of the ends of broken
roots by a more perfect amputation; and in fruit-trees, he may shorten such roots as have
a tendency to strike too pei'pendicularly into the soil. The form of the cut in either case
is a matter of less consequence than in the shoot; but, like it, it ought in general to be
made from tlie under side of the shoot, that only one section may be fractured, and that
the removed section may be the fractured one; and also that water or sap may rather
descend from than adhere to tlie wound. The cliief reason for this practice, however, is
the facility of performing it ; for a section directly across, as if made irith 'a saw, will, in
roots, heal as soon, if not sooner, than one made obliquely; but to make such a section
in even small roots would require several distinct cuts, whereas the oblique section is
completed by a single operation. The Genoese gardeners, in pruning the roots of the
orange ti-ees, always make a section directly across, which, in one yeai-, is in great part
covered by the protmding granulated matter. (See 2318.)
2562. T he roots o f trees m ight be completehj pruned, i f done hy degrees; say that tho
roots extend in every direction in the form of a circle; then take a portion, say one
eighth, of that circle every year till it is completed, and remove the earth entirely from
above and under the roots; then cut off the diseased parts, or those roots which penetrate
into bad soil, aud laying below them such a stratum as to be impenetrable in future,
intermix and cover them with suitable soil.
2563. P ru n in g herbaceous p lan ts, or what is called trim m ing , consists generally in
thinning the stems to increase the size and flowers of those which remain; but it may
also be performed for all the pui-poses before mentioned ; and for some other pui-poses,
such as the prolongation of the lives of annuals by pinching off their blossoms,
strengthening bulbous roots by tlie same means, increasing the lowcr leaves of the
tobacco-plant by cutting over the stem a few inches above ground, &c. In trimming
the roots of herbaceous plants, the same general principles ave adopted as in pnmiug
the roots of trees. In transplanting seedlings, the tap-root merely requires to be
shortened ; and in most other cases, only bmiscd, diseased, or broken roots are cut off,
and fractured sections smoothed.
2564. T h e seasons f o r p ru n in g trees are generally winter and midsummer; but some
authors prefer spring, following the order of the vegetation of the different species and
varieties. According to this principle, the first pruning of fi-uit-trees begins in February
with the apricot, then the peach, afterwards the pears and plums, then the cherries,
and lastly the apples, tho sap of which is not properly in motion till April. Some
have recommended the autumn and raid-winter; but though this may be allowable in
forest trees, it is certainly injurious to tender trees of every sort, by drying and hardening
a portion of wood close to the part cut, and hence the granulous matter does not so
easily protrude between the bark and wood, as in trees where those parts are furnished
with sap. For all the operations of pmning, therefore, which are performed on the
branches or shoots of trees, the best period appears to be that immediately before, or
commensurate with, the rising of the sap.
2565. S um m er p ru n in g commences with disbudding, or the rubbing off of the buds,
soon after they have begun to develope their leaves in April and May ; and is continued
during summer hy pinching off or sliortening such as ai-c farther advanced. It is
obviously, to a certain extent, guided by tlie same general rules as winter or general
pnining; but the great use of leaves in preparing the sap being considered, summer
pnming wisely conducted wUl not extend farther than may be neccssai-y to maintain as
much as possible au equilibrium of sap among the branches, to prevent gom-mands and
water-shoots from depriving the fruit of proper nom-ishmcnt, and to admit sufficient air
and light to the fruit. Most authors are of opinion that the other objects of pruning
will be better effected by winter operations. Summer pruning is chiefly applicable to
fruit-trees, and among these to the peach; but it is also practised on forest and ornamental
trees when young, and is of great importance in giving a proper direction to the
sap in newly gi-afted trees in the nursery.
2566. T h in n in g the branches of individual trees may be considered as included in
.pruning. In herbaceous vegetables, or young trees growing together in quantities, it
consists in removing all such as impede the others from attaining tho desfrcd bulk, form,
or other properties fur which they arc specially cultivated ; and it is generally performed
in connection with weeding or hoeing.
Su b se ct. 4. T ra in in g .
2567. B y tra in in g is to be understood the conducting of the shoots of trees or plants
over the surface of walls, espalier rails, trellises, or on any other flat surface. It is performed
in a variety of ways, according to the kind of tree, the object in view, and the
particular opinions of gardeners.
2568. T he object o f tra in in g is, either to induce a disposition to form flowcr-buds iu
rare and tender trees or plants; to mature aud improve the quality of fruits which would
not otherwise ripen in the open air; or to increase the quantity and precocity of the fmit
of trees which mature thcir fmit in the open air. Such arc the principal objects of
training; vliich are effected by the shelter and exposure to the sun of the surface to
which the trees ai-e trained, by which more heat is produced, ancl injm-ies from severe
weather better guarded against; by the regular spreading of the branches on this surface,
by which the leaves are more fully exposed to the sun than they can be on any standard;
and by the form of training, which, by retai-ding the motion of the descent of the sap,
causes it to spend itself in the formation of flowcr-buds.
2569. T he leading modes o f tra in in g woody-stemmed trees are the fan, horizontal, and
vertical (fig . 722. a , f h ) ; to which may be added the wavy or curvilinear. Thcir
vai-icties are, the herring-bone fan (a), the in-egular fan (6), the stellate fan (c), the
drooping fan (d ), the wavy fan (e) ; the horizontcti with screw stem (g ), and with double
stem (Ji) ; and the vertical, with screw or wavy shoots (Ji), and with upright shoots (J).
Hayward proposes a sort of wavy training, little different from that of the w<yy fan, but
which is certainly superior to some of the other of the above modes in principle, as it
has no tendency to constrain the shoots, or to produce an irregular distribution or exhibition
of the sap in gourmands, &c. (Science o f H o rtic u ltu re , Svo. 1818.)
722
2570. Trees w ith Jl.exible stems, such as the vine and other climbers, admit of three
other varieties of training (fig . 723.); which, as vines bear the sweetest fruit at the
greatest distance from the root, are particularly suitable for them.
2571. F a n tra in in g , as tho name imports, directs the spreading out of all the branches
like the spokes of the fan ; it is reckoned of universal application, and peculiarly suitable
for peaches and other stone-fruits.
2572. S tellate tra in in g refers chiefly to standards trained on walls, or what by some arc
called riders. The siunmit of the stem being elevated 6 ft. or 8 ft. from the ground by its
length, the branches arc laid in like radii from a centi-c.
2573. T he open fa n (fig . 724.) is a mode of training described by Professor Thouin,
and exemplified in the J a rd in des P lantes. It does not appear to differ much from a
mode described by Knight, which he applied to the peach, and considered, with a little
variation, a])plicable, even with superior advantages, to the cherry, plum, and_ pear
tree. This form, he adds, “ might with much advantage be given to trees wliilst in the
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