Training has tor its object rendering plants more productive either of flowers or of fruit, by reijulatincr the number and position of their branches. If their number be too great, they over- . shadow those below them, and by excluding the heat and light, prevent that elaboration of the sap required for the production of fructification. If they are too few, the sap is expended in the production of more, and in extending the surface of the leaves required for the digestion of the juices.

The position of the branches is important, because, if trained against a wall, they obtain a higher temperature, and protection from winds; and if trained with their points below the horizontal, the return of the sap is checked. Shy-flowering shrubs, as Di-placus puniceus, are made to blossom abundantly, and freely-flowering shrubs, as Cytisus hybridus, are made to blossom earlier, by having their branches bent below the horizontal line. Dr. Lindley, observing upon these facts, proceeds to remark, that - "If a stem is trained erect, it will be more vigorous than if placed in any other position, and its tendency to bear leaves rather than flowers will he increased: in proportion as it deviates from the perpendicular is its vigour diminished. For instance, if a stem is headed back, and only two opposite buds are allowed to grow, they will continue to push equally, so long as their relation to the perpendicular is the same; but if one is bent towards a horizontal direction, and the other allowed to remain, the growth of the former will be immediately checked; if the depression is increased, the weakness of the branch increases proportionally; and this may be carried on till the branch perishes.

In training, this fact is of the utmost value in enabling the gardener to regulate the symmetry of a tree. It, however, by no means follows, that because out of two contiguous branches, one growing erect, and the other forced into a downward direction, the latter may die, that all branches trained downwards will die. On the contrary, an inversion of their natural position is of so little consequence to their healthiness, that no effect seems 38 in general to be produced, beyond that of causing a slow circulation, and the formation of flowers." - Theory of Hort. The reason of this appears in the fact, that a plant propels its sap with greatest force perpendicularly, so much so that the sap rising in a vine branch growing in a right line from the root, with a force capable of sustaining a column of mercury twenty-eight inches high, will, if the branch be bent down to a right angle, support barely twenty-three inches, and if bent a few degrees below the horizontal, the column sustained will not be more than twenty-one inches.

This is the reason why at such angles gardeners find the trained branches of their wall trees rendered more productive of blossoms, and furnished with a smaller surface of leaves.

Fig. 167.

A similar effect is produced by training a branch in a waving form, for two-thirds of its length are placed horizon-tally, as in the accompanying outline. - Princ. of Gardening.

On the practical parts of training, Abercrombie has the following good directions: -

"When it is intended to raise trained fruit-trees for walls and espaliers, some of the best young plants of the respective sorts, both dwarf and half-standards of one year old, with the first shoots from the budding and grafting entire, should be transplanted in autumn, at eight or ten feet distance, against any kind offence having a south aspect, in a free situation, not less than four or five feet high, either a wall, paling, reed-fence, etc.

"The trees thus planted, in spring following, just as they begin to make an effort for shooting, should be headed down; that is, the first shoots from the budding, etc, to be cut down to within three or four eyes or buds of its place of insertion in the stock, especially those intended for dwarfs; also the half-standards, if worked on tall stocks; and this heading down both prevents their running up too high with a single naked stem, branchless below, and causes them to throw out lateral shoots from the lower part, to fill the wall or espalier regularly with branches quite from the bottom upward; for they will soon after push forth strong shoots from all the remaining lower buds, which shoots, when of due length, in summer, should be trained along to the fence, equally to the right and left, at full length, till next spring, when these shoots may also be cut down to six or eight inches' length, to force out a further supply of more branches near the bottom. Continue shortening, more or less, the two or three first sprigs on the last summer's shoots, as you shall see necessary, in order to obtain a proper spread of lower branches to give the tree its intended form.

Though this work of pruning short, to obtain laterals, may also be performed occasionally in summer, in May, or early in June, on the strong young shoots of the year, cutting or pinching them down to a few eyes, and they will thereby throw out lower laterals the same season, and, by that means, a year's growth is gained. Branches thus gained arrive to proper length in summer for training in; they should all be trained along close to the wall; and if any fore-right or back shoots come out, rub them all off close, leaving the well-placed side shoots in every part; and let the whole, or as many as possible, be trained in during this season, to have plenty to choose from in the general pruning season of winter or spring - train equally to the right and left on each side of the tree, in a spreading somewhat horizontal manner, nowhere crossing one another, but at parallel distances, and mostly all at full length during the summer's growth.

"In the winter pruning we are to observe that, if more wood was trained up in summer than now appears necessary, or than can be trained in with due regularity, retrench such superfluities; likewise any remaining fore-right or back shoots, and other irregular growths omitted in summer, not eligibly situated for training in, should also be now all pruned out, cutting everything of the above nature, both superabundances and irregularities, quite close to their origin, being careful, however, to leave all the regular, well - placed, useful shoots that can readily be trained with due regularity, without crowding or crossing one another, all of which should also be cleared from all lateral or side shoots, if any; and with respect to their being shortened more or less, or left entire, you will order, according to your discretion, agreeably to the above-mentioned hints.

"Thus, having obtained a regular spread of branches sufficient to effect the proper expansion requisite to form a trained wall or espalier tree, they must then be pruned according to the method peculiar to each respective sort of fruit, as directed in their culture, each under its proper genus. Training espalier trees is effected exactly in the manner as above, only these may be also trained as they stand in the nursery lines, in the open quarters or borders, etc, by ranging some stout stake3 in the ground, along one side of each tree. Where a general luxuriancy prevails, while under the course of training, or after, it is advisable, in the work of pruning, to use the knife with moderation; for the more wood we cut out of a generally vigorous tree, and the more the shoots are shortened, the more vigorous will it continue to shoot without ever becoming properly fruitful; and if severe cutting is repeatedly continued, the tree often exhausts so greatly by luxuriant shooting, that it suddenly assumes a weak consumptive state.

Such trees as are vigorous only in particular shoots, may, in some cases, have such shoots radically retrenched, and in others reserved; that if a very vigorous shoot runs considerably stronger than all the rest, and seems to support its vigour at the expense of the others in its neighbourhood, it should be retrenched to the very origin, as early in summer as discoverable. In other cases, if a luxuriant shoot arise in any vacant space towards the bottorn, especially where a supply of more wood is wanted, it may be retained, and pinched or topped down to a few eyes in May or June; it will send out several laterals below, the same season ; and instead of one rude luxuriant shoot, there will be four or five of moderate growth to fill the vacancy more effectually, and that will much sooner attain to fruitfulness." - Abererombie.

Besides the above usual modes of training - for which see also Walls, Espaliers, and Standards - there are two other modes which deserve notice.

Quenouille Training " consists in training one upright central shoot in summer, and shortening it down to fifteen inches at the winter pruning, in order that it may, at that height, produce branches forming a tier, to be trained, in the first instance, horizontally. The shoot produced by the uppermost bud is, however, trained as upright as possible during the summer, and is cut back, so as to produce another tier fifteen inches above the first, and so on until the tree has reached the desired height. In this climate, it is necessary to train the shoot downwards, which is easily done by tying those of the first tier to short stakes, those of each successive tier being fastened to the branches below them. When the shoots are thus arched downwards at full length, or nearly so, they soon come into a bearing state; but in this climate, if cut short, as the French do, they only send up a number of shoots annually. The plan answers very well where it can be at all times properly attended to; but if this cannot be guaranteed, the ordinary form of dwarf is preferable.

Quenouilles require more time to be devoted to them than espaliers." - Gard. Chron.

Balloon Training

On this mode I merely extract the following from Dr. Lindley's Theory of Horticulture: -

"What are called balloon apples and pears, are formed by forcing downwards all the branches of standard trees till the points touch the earth, and they have the merit of producing large crops of fruit in a very small compass; their upper parts are, however, too much exposed to radiation at night, and the crop from that part of the branches is apt to be cut oft". One of the prettiest applications of this principle is that of Mr. Charles Lawrence, described in the Gardener's Magazine, viii. 6S0, by means of which standard rose trees are converted into masses of flowers. The figure given in that work represents the variety called the 'Bizarre de la Chine,' which flowers most abundantly to the ends of its branches, and was truly a splendid object".