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Show fome of thefe Shoots, and nailing the others clofe to the Wall, the Fruits are fuddenlyex- pos’d to the Sun and Air, whereby they receive a very great Check, and are not only retarded in their Growth, but often render’d il]-tafted, and have tough Skins. The Diftance which the Branches of thefe Trees fhould be allow’d againft the Wall the future Welfare of the Tree: You fhould alfo cutout entirely all weak Shoots, tho’ they may have many Bloffom-buds upon them; for thele have not Strength enough to nourifh the Fruit, fo as to give it a kindly Flavour, but they will weaken the other Parts ofthe Tree. In nailing the Shoots to the Wall, you muft be careful to place them at as equal Diftances as poflible, that their Leaves, when come out, may have Roomto grow, without fhading the Branches too much; and you fhould never nail them upright, if it can be prevented; for when they are thus train’d, they are very fubjeét to fhoot from the uppermoft Eyes, and the lower part of the Shoots will thereby become naked. xere is not any Thing in the Bufinefs of Gardening, which has more exercis’d the Curious, than howto prex| ferve their tender Sorts of Fruit from being blighted in the Spring of the Year; and yet there has been little wrote upon this Subject which is worth Notice: Some have propos’d Mattreffes of Straw or Reeds to be placed eainft Walls, to prebefore the Fruit-Tre Others have divnt their being blafted: ixing horizontal Shelrers in their ent the perpendicular Dew or in from falling upon the Bloffoms of the Fruit-Trees, which they fuppos’d to be the But both thefe chief Caufe of their Blighting Contrivances have been far from anfwering the Expectations of thofe Perfons who have I have elfewhere put them in Practice, improper to fhewn) , therefore it may not fome Things in this Place, which I before mention’d, in relation to this When a weak Tree is pruned early. in the Beginning of Winter, the Orifices ofthe Sapvetiels are clos’d up long before the Sp TIN 5 and confequently, when in the Spring and Summer, the warm Weathe advancing, the attracting Force of the perfpiring Leaves js not then akned by manyInlets from freth Wounds, but is wholly exerted in drawing Sap muft be proportion’d to the Size of the from the Root: whereas, on the other hand, Fruit, or the Length of the Leaves: For if we obferve how the Branches of Trees are naturally difpos’d to grow, we fhall always find themplac’d at a greater or lets Diftance, as their Leaves are larger or {maller, (as I already obferv’d under the Article of es): And there is no furer Guide to a curious Artift, than Nature, from whence a Gardenerfhould always be directed in every Part of his Profeffion; fince his Bufinefs is to aid and affift Nature, where fhe is not capable of bringing her Productions to Maturity, or where there is Room to make confiderable Improvements by Art; which cannot be any otherwife effected, than bygently affifting her in her own Way. when aluxuriant Tree is pruned late in the Spring, the Force of its Leaves to attraét Sa from the Root will be muchfpent andloft at the feveral frefh cut Inlets. Befides, if it were no Advantage to the Trees to prune them at this Seafon, (which, I think, no one will have Reafon to doubt, after making the Trial), but that it onlyfucceeds as well as the Spring Pruning ; yet there is a great Advantage in doing ofit at Michaelmas; for that being a much more leifure Seafon with Gardeners than the Sy they will have more Timetoperformit ca fully ; and then they will not have too many e together, which mayrequire to be immediately executed: for the Sp But to return to Pruning of thefe Trees: ing the principal Seafon for Croppi The Branches being carefully train’d in, as Kitchen-Garden, and attending their Hotbefore direéted in the Spring and Summer beds, if they are difingaged from the Bufinefs of Pruning at that Time, it will be of great Seafons; we come nowto treat of the Wint Prunir which is commonly perform’d in Advantage, efpecially where there is a great Quantity of Walling. And here is alfo anbruary or March: but the bett Seafon for this Work is about Mich: when their other Benefit in Pruning at this Seafon, which Leaves begin to fall, w be early is, the having the Borders at liberty to dig clean before the Spring, fo that the enough for their Wounds to heal before the and n 1 itter at that Froft comes on, fo that there will be no Garden may not app Seafon. Danger of their being hurt thereby: And Having faid thus much concerning the the Branches of the Trees being proportion’d to the Strength of the Roots Pak PE PE that Seafon, all the afcending Sap in the Spy will be employ’d to nourifh only thofe ufeful Parts of the Branches which are left: whereas if they are left unprun’d “till F » the Sap in the Branches being then in Motion, as may be obferv’d by the {welling of the Buds, the Time of Pruning, I fhall now proceed to give fome general & DireCctions how itis perform’d on Peach and Neétarine Trees, which require a very different Management from mott other Sorts of Fruits. In Pruning of thefe Trees, you fhould always obferve to cut them behind a Wood-buc, greateft Part of it will be drawn upto the extreme Parts of the Branches, to nourifh fuch Bloffoms as muft be afterwards cut off: (which may be eafily diftinguifh’d from the the ftrongeft Shoots at that Seafon, when you will find the extreme Buds to fwell fafter than moft of the lower ones; for there being no Leaves then upon the Branches to detain the Sap to nourifh the lower Buds, the upper ones will always draw from thofe below. But it is a conftant Practice amongft Gardeners, founded upon long Experience, to cut, it is very apt to die down to the ete * leading Bud; fo that what Fruit may produced above that, will come to noth! there being always a Neceffity of @ Teac es prune weak Trees early in the Winter, and luxuriant Trees Jate in the Spring, in order to of the Leaves being to perfpire And this may be eafily known, byobferving eheck their Luxuriancy. Nowit is evident, that this Check does not proceed from any confide- table Lofs of Sap at the Wounds of the pruned Tree, (excepting a few of the bleeding Trees, when cut at that Seafon), but muft arife from fome other Caufe; for by feveral Experiments made by the Reverend Mr, Hales, in fixing Mercurial Gages to the Stems of frefh cus Trees, he found thofe Wounds were conftantly in an imbibing State, except the Vine in the bleeding Seafon, Bloffom-buds, that are fhorter, rounder, a id more turgid than the Wood-buds)s for u the Shoot have not a leading Bud where t Bud to attraét the Nourifhment 5 for 11s m0” as! fufficient that they have a Leaf-bud, : have imagined, fince that will attract a. {mall Quantity of Nourifhments the Je k r ae crude Juices as are unfit to enter the Ar The Length you fhould leave thefe mere fhould be proportion’d to the Strength ee Tree, which, ina healthy ftrong Tree ee : left ten Inches or more; butin a Wee” a they fhould not be more than bx eo > That the Blights, in’'d of, do not proceed from anyexternal Caufe or Inclemency i fo often, as from a Diftemper in the Trees: For if we obferve the 2 Trees at that S fon, where they are the moft fubjet to what is cali’d a Blight, wefhall the Branches very fmall, weak, and not alfo train’d in very clofe to ches are, for the moft uds, (which is chiefly want of Strengtl Thefe s do indeed open, and, to Perfons not ’d in Fruit-Trees, fhew a great Profpect ful Crop of Fruit; whereas the th of the Branches is nt in nou£ TS, nable to do any more, the Bloffoms fall off, andthe {mall Efforts of the Leaf-buds are check’d, fo that, many the greateft Part of the Branches die ar Trees of a different fame Sort ‘w in the far 1 tBlight: often obfe Sort, nay, ev’n fome I expos'd to t the fame Incle however, in this you muft be guided by tT Pofition of a leading Buds for iC 18 be or s leave a Shoot three or four Inches lon than We een fhorter, to cut it two or three Inches for would chufe to do, provided were thefe Buds, it being abfolutely necesaryy 6 from for from any his will there- fore be remedy’d, by obferving the foregoing Directions in the Pruning and Management of the Trees, fo as never to over-burden them with Branches, nor to fuffer any Part ofthe Trees to exhauft the whole Nourifhment from the Root, fo as to caufe the other Parts to be very weak; but to diftribute the Nourifhment equally to every Shoot, fo that there may be none too vigorous, at the fame time that others are too weak ; andby continually rubbing off ufelefs or fore-right Shoots, as they are produced, the Strength of the Trees will not be {pent to nourifh fuch Branches as muft be afterwards cut out, which is too often feen in thé Management ofthefe Trees. And, 2dly, It fometimes happens, that the Roots of thefe Trees are buried too deep in the Ground, which, in a cold or moift Soil, is one of the greateft Difadvantages that can aitend thefe tender Fruits; for the Sap which is contain’d in the Branches, being by the Warmth ofthe Sun, put ftrong!y into Motion early in the Spring, is exhauited in nourifhing the Bloffoms, anda Part ofit is per- fpired through the Wood-branches, fo thatits Strength is loft before the Warmth can reach to their Roots, to put them into an equal Motion in fearch of frefh Nourifhment, to {upply the Expence ofthe Branches, for want of which, the Bloffoms fall off and decay, and the Shoots feem to be ata Stand, until the farther Advance of the Warmth penetrates to the Roots, and fers them in Motion; when fuddenlyafter, the Trees, which before look’d weak and decaying, domakeprodigious Progrefs in their Shoots ; an 1 before the Summer is {pent, are furnifh’d with much ftronger Branches, than thofe Trees which have the full Advantage of Sun and Showers, and that are more fruitful and healthy; which muft inly be owing to the former Obfervation; alfo to their drawing in a great Quantity of crude Moifture, which, though productiveof Wood, isyet unkindlyfor Fruit. If, therefore, this be the Cafe, there is no Way ofhelping this, but byraifing up the Trees, if they are young; or, if chey are too old to remove, it is the better Way to root them out, and make new Borders of frefh Earth, and plant down young Trees ; for it is a great Vexation to be at the Trouble and Expence of pruning and managing thefe Trees, without having the Pleafure of reaping any Advantage from them. h will always be the Cafe, where the e thus injudicioufly planted. Or, from the Trees This may proc 3 wanting Nourifhment, which is many times the Cale, where they are planted in a hard, gravelly Soil, in which it is the common Praétice to dig Borders three or four Feet wide, and three Feet deep into the Rock of Gravel ; which is fill’d with good freth Earth, into which the Trees are planted, where they until will thrive pretty well for two Years, their Roots reach the Gravel, where they are confin’d, as if planted in a Pot, and for want of proper Nourifhment, the Bra ches do con- tinually decay every Year. This cannot be help’d, where the Treeshave been growing fome Years, |