l i i / i ! !
fe .ta!
To keen a luxuriant tree full of wood tends to make it less rampant ; but a crowded intricacy is to be
avoided ; for the air stagnates in a tliickot of spray and foliage, while the sun cannot penetrate it : hence
tho new shoots grow long-jointed, and do not ripen thoroughly; and tho blossom-buds fonnmg on the
bearers for the following year will be fewer and loss plump. All the shoots rising alter midsummer are
to be displaced, unless a vacuity cannot be furnished w ithout reserving someof them, or unless the excessive
luxuriance of a plant makes it proper to cut it as little as possible, and to let the sap expend itself in
numerous channels. T h e spring shoots laid in are generally to be preserved at full length, as far as the
limits will permit, until after the fall of th e leaf ; because to stop them in summer would cause them to
shoot from almost every eye, and fill the wall with spray ; hence, when a vacancy wants several branches
to furnish it, it is a good resource to shorten a strong contiguous shoot to three or four eyes. This is
the exception to the rule. . ,
2944. Winter pruning o f trees in bearing. Now a final selection is to be made from the last year’s shoots
retained during the summer. On established trees which have fully ripened their shoots, and of which
th e young wood is not succulent, and therefore not susceptible of injury from frost, there is a wide latitude
of time for th e prmcipal or winter pruning, extending from the fall of the leaf to th e time of the
rising of the sap. or ju s t before. To prune in autumn strengthens a plant, and will bring th e blossora-
buds more forward : to cut the wood late in spring, tends to check a phuit, and is one of the remedies for
excessive luxuriance. At the opening of spring th e blossom-buds can be certainly distinguished, which
is a great guide to the judgment in many critical cases ; but, on the other hand, if ,tlie blossom-buds get
much swelled they arc liable to be bruised or knocked off, in th e various operations of untacking, cutting,
and re-nailing the branches. Supposing the common course of winter pruning to be divided into three
periods—autumn, the cold months of winter, and th e beginning of spring—th e plants to be excepted
from the first two, are, the fig uniformly, when not in a forcing-house, and th e vine for th e most part,
because the autumn is seldom hot and fine sufficiently long to ripen th e year’s shoots. Some except the
peach and nectarine from the middle period, but not from the first; because they say that, if a severe
frost happen immediately to follow the pruning, the points of the unripcncd shoots, and particularly the
wood-bud next to the cut, are generally so much hurt, that there must be a second shortening, farther in
than was intended, to furnish these shoots with leaders.
2945. The number o f good shoots to be retained is limited by th e character of the tree, th e size to which
the fruit grows, and the compass to be given to the head. The branches of a wall tree may be from
5 in. to 10 in. asunder, according to its strength and the size of the fruit. Of fruit-shoots, those are the
best which are short-jointed, and show a competent number of blossom-buds, and on which the series of
blossom-buds commences nearest to the origin of th e shoots, especially on that class which must have the
bearers annually shortened. Spongy or disproportionately large and gouty shoots are bad alike for wood
and fruit ; but good shoots for wood mav be above the middle size, if th e buds are well defined ; and the
best shoots for fruit may incline to slenderness, if not wiry and sapless : disproportionately large shoots
are seldom fruitful. In choosing largo supplies for wood, other things being equal, th e lowest new branches
on th e tree, and the last year’s laterals nearest to the origin of a branch, are to be preferred. Begin at
tho bottom and middle of the tre e ; keep these furnished without intricacy ; and the extremities will
be easily managed. Such shoots as are preserved, whether to come in immediately as bearers, or to fill
up naked parts in the figure, or to furnish future supplies of wood, are to be trea ted according to the
” ^2946” Class bearing on distinct branches. On those species which bear a t the ends of the branches,'or on
spurs for several years in succession, the leading shoot of a fruit-brarrch is always to be retained, and
the fruit-branches are not to be shortened where they do not exceed the assigned limits for the tree ;
because, if stopped, these would send out strong wood-siioots, where blossom-buds or fruit-spurs would
otherwise have been produced. ......................
2947. Exceptions to this i-ule. On young trees under training, to be furnished with a head, shorten the
branches until the designed figure is complete : again, though a tree be established, occasionally shorten
a branch, to bring out wood to fill a vacancy. T h e surplus of the last year’s shoots, which would crowd,
or disfigure, or too much weaken the tree, or occupy it without promise, are to be cut out clean to the
parent branch ; also cut away any old branches which appear decayed, or of which the spurs begin to
get barren. Finally, take off close the naked barren stumps left a t previous amputations.
2948. Class hearing on last year’s wood only. On trees which bear on the last year’s wood, there is a
necessity for annually shortening alternate divisions of the branches, in order to provide a supply of new
shoots for bearing the next season. We prune the longer branches of a luxuriant plant, and the shorter
of a weak plant, in an inverted proportion. Were the strong tree much cut in, it would produce only the
more wood ; while the weak tree, unless relieved by short pruning, would not long continue to bear.
Very strong shoots m ay b e left 18 in. long, or lose but a fourth of th e ir len g th ; extremely weak
shoots should be retrenched to half their length, whether th a t be 5 in., 6 in., 8 in., or 10 in .; prune shoots
of medium growth to the extent which best consults the double object of leaving as many blossom-buds
as may be on the shoot, and of forcing out new wood a t a well-placed eye. In shortening, cut a t a
leaf or wood-bud th a t is likely to yield a leading shoot. Leaf-buds are distinguished by being oblong,
narrow, and depressed ; blossom-buds by being rounder and bolder. If a leaf-bud at a suitable distance
is found between twin blossom-buds, so much the better. A leading shoot a t the point of a bearing
branch draws nourishment for the intervening fm it. T h e thinning of rejected shoots, and decayed
or worn-out bearers, is nearly as for the other class.
2949. Mixed class. There is a small anomalous class which bears frequently on spurs of several years’
continuance as well as on annual shoots, but chiefly on th e latter. Shoots of this class are to have a
mixed treatment, preserving the fertile spurs as much as may be. Having finished pruning a wall
tree, lay in the branches and shoots directly; tacking them in a neat manner to th e wall or trellis.
(Abercrombie.)
2950. Winter pruning to he revised. Revise the pmning when a sufficient time has
elapsed to see it with another eye ; or .when the expansion of the blossoms decides the
competition between probationaiy frait-shoots which have been laid in too close. In
those stone-fniit trees which bear on the last year’s shoot, such as the peach and most of
the kinds of apricot, it is piu*ticnlarly necessary to revise the winter pruning at the time
of blossoming ; because, if on any branch the blossoms are observed to have been spoiled
cither by gum, by blight, or spring frost, that branch is quite useless as a bearer, and
unless it lias made some shoots which may prove bearers the following year, is to be
entirely cut away : but if the blighted branches have made well-placed shoots, shorten
them to these. (Abercrombie.')
2951. Methods o f training. The two principal methods of trainmg wall-trees which
arc followed in Britain, arc the fan and the horizontal modes. “ W hen walls exceed
7 ft. in height,” Neül observes, “ the best gardeners seem to concur in giving the
preference to the fan training, variously modiiicd : in this way they find that a tree can
much sooner be brought to fill its allotted space, and the loss of a branch can much more
easily be supplied at any time. For lowcr walls, the horizontal method is prefen-ed ;
and the same plan is adopted almost universally on espalier rails. Hitt strongly recoin-,
mends this mode for most sorts of wall trees ; and for pears he adopts what is called
tlie screw stem, or training the stem in a serpentine manner, the branches going off
horizontally as in the ordinary straight stem. (Edin. Encyc., art. Hort.) Nicol agi-ecs
with most experienced gardeners, in preferring jh n training to all other methods ; and it
may he observed, that this form comes nearer to the mode recommended by Kmght, as
affording “ evidence of a more regular distribution of the sap ” than any other mode. I t
agrees with the excellent general principles of praning laid down by Qumtmey, who first
reduced this branch of gardening to scientific principles, —to the practice of the celebrated
growers of peaches at MontreuU, near Pai-is, and to tho practice of French and German
gardeners generally.
2952 Knicrht remarks, th at when trees are, by any means, deprived of the motion which their branches
naturally receive from the winds, the forms in which they are trained operate more powerfully on their
permanent health and vigour than is generally imagined. “ In this sentiment, says Nicol, I perfectly
L r e e • and I may be aUowed to add, th a t I have been engaged in th e tra,inin^g of fruit trees these twenty-
fife vèiSë and have trained them in a great variety of forms. Some m th e Dutch style, running out
two b ? S h e s first, perfectly horizontal, right and left, to the extent of three or four yards each way
and from th'-'''' norfontlv iinrip-ht. at 9in. aoart. to the top of the wall ; some with screwed
stems and 1
G ft. high, w
fan manne r; v»i.iuu .a c , .----------------------- — -----
many from the above forms to this both on walls and espaliers.
2953. Modes o f training to check ovei' vigorous growth arc various; but all of them
depend on depressing the shoots, either
throughout thcir whole length, or operating
on tho young shoots only. When oppor- ipi::
tunity .admits, or want of space on one side J /
of a wall requires, it is found conducive to .'ji....
moderation of growth and the production
of frait, to train the branches of trees over
the wall and down the other side (fig.
751.). This is found to increase the prolificacy
of vigorous-growing kinds, as the
pear ; and it also succeeds woU with the
apple, cherry, and vine. . .
2954. Modes o f training to encourage the growth o f shoots proceed on the opposite p n n ciple,
and wliilc over-luxuriant shoots are depressed, weak ones, which it is deemed proper
to encourage, are elevated and brought nearer to the perpendicular.
2955. Pruning and training, as applied to edgings and garden-hedges, may be pcifonned
by clipping, or cutting en masse with the hedge-bill (1741.). Hedges must be cut in
autumn when the wood is ripe : sometimes it is done in summer, which is admissible as
far as respects the health of the plants, and consequent durability of the hedge, when
the lower ends of the shoots are neaaly ripe. I f this is not the case, the operation is
injurious. The judicious gardener will weigh the circumstances of the case, and decide
accordingly.
S e c t . VI. Weeding, Stirring the Soil, Protecting, Supporting, and Shading.
2956. Eradication o f weeds. The means of removal, are hoeing and weeding ; and
of dcstmction, exposing them, when hoed or pulled up, to the sun and air ; or, what is
in all cases better, taking them at oncc to the dunghill or compost-yard, to be destroyed
bv fermentation. These operations requh-e to be perfonned almost every month m the
year • but more especially in the beginning of summer, when the earth is teeming with
regetable life. Weeding in time, Mai-shall observes, is a material thing m ciütm-e, and
the hand is generally more certain than the hoe. _
2957. Stirring the ground among crops is neaily as essential as weeding, and is in some
de«ree performed by the operation of hoeing. But the most effectual mode of stimng,
and that now adopted by the best gardeners, is by the two-pronged fork or two-
pronged hoc (figs. 309. 321.). Every crop, whether planted in rows, or sown broadcast
ou<^ht to be subjected to this operation once or oftener in the course of its progress
to maturity Small crops, where the distances between the plants are not wide, ought
to be stin-eci by a fork of two prongs, or even one prong. A naraow hoe is the usual
instrament, but this always tends to hai-den the gronnd below, and to fom a sort ol
floor, which in many soils is impeiwions to air or rain. “ Breaking the surface, Marshall
remarks, “ keeps the soil in health ; for when it lies in a hard or bound state,
enricliino- showers run off, and the salubrious air and solar heat cannot enter. Ground,
he adds, “ should be frequently stin-ed and raked between crops, and about the bordera,
to give all a fresh appearance. There is a pleasantness to the eye in ncw-hroken earth,
wMch gives an aii- of culture, and is always ag réab le.” TIÜs last observation is par-
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