. The book of the garden. Gardening. 528 FEUIT GARDEN. narily good situations; and if protected with portable board copings while the trees are in bloom, it will be found a pretty certain security against late spring frosts. The fundamental rules are, allowing the shoots plenty of room on the wall or espalier by thinning out the older branches that may have become exhausted, or can be readily spared, and laying in young wood as required, either by being directly at- tached to the wall, or trained upon the older and barren branches. There are often gross watery shoots which arise towards the lo
. The book of the garden. Gardening. 528 FEUIT GARDEN. narily good situations; and if protected with portable board copings while the trees are in bloom, it will be found a pretty certain security against late spring frosts. The fundamental rules are, allowing the shoots plenty of room on the wall or espalier by thinning out the older branches that may have become exhausted, or can be readily spared, and laying in young wood as required, either by being directly at- tached to the wall, or trained upon the older and barren branches. There are often gross watery shoots which arise towards the lower part of the tree near the stem, which, if not rubbed off during summer, must be totally cut off at winter pruning ; but it is better to pre- vent their appearance altogether, either by finger-pruning in summer, or root-pruning in autumn. In regard to distance, the smaller- growing sorts should have their main branches laid in about 6 or 7 inches apart, and the larger- growing ones at 9 or 10 inches ; and on these, and between them, the young wood is to be trained. The plum bears the knife better than the cherry, but the less knifing on any tree the better; for if the roots be under proper control, very little winter pruning wUl be found neces- sary. All the sorts bear their fruit on small na- tural spurs, which form on the ends and along the sides of the bearing shoots, of from one to three years' growth; in most sorts, however, it is two years before the spurs on these branches bear fruit. By great neglect, spurs will extend to a considerable distance from the wall; these should be cut back to the bud nearest their origin, or removed entirely, and the branch on which they grow covered with such young shoots as can be most conveniently made avail- able. Summer pruning should commence about the beginning of May, and consists chiefly in dis- budding, or rubbing off with the finger and thumb, all foreright shoots and back shoots (that is, those which protrude from the front or
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