FAN-SHAPED TREES

are adapted to high walls. Tomatoes or other fruits may be grown below
in the vacant spaces. By planting a standard against a high wall, it
will soon be covered if fed and duly trained. Cut the tree back as an
orchard standard after planting. Keep the boughs well away from each
other, 12 inches or more apart. If a wall is shaded with foliage it
derives little heat from the sun. Stop the gross upright shoots early in
the season to spread the sap, and summer prune in July. Keep the
branches close to the wall, and complete pruning in winter. These trees
must be on the Pear Stock. The choicest sorts, such as Doyenne du
Comice, Beurre Superfin or Diel should be selected for a south wall.
Prune the upper parts before the lower. Wires may be placed on the walls
1-1/2 inches out, with an interval of 12 inches or more between each
wire.

BUSHES

are of great value, either in a plantation or a garden. In good soil,
even those on the quince grow large, and may need root-pruning or
moving. In poor soil, with gravel or chalk not far below, bushes on Pear
Stock must be moved every few years, and well fed. Rotten manure
given in the autumn will attract and feed the roots. Fruit on low bushes
is less affected by strong winds. Some sorts do better as bushes than as
pyramids; bushes, too, are more under control. A maiden tree after
planting should be allowed to grow for a year unchecked, to establish
the roots. In winter cut the tree back to within a foot of the ground.
In the spring it will throw out vigorous shoots. Select three or four of
these, and fix them in position with stakes, removing the others. Next
winter cut these back to an outer eye, leaving six or nine inches of
each branch from the stem. Other branches will soon follow. Time will be
saved by buying bushes from the nursery. Keep these as open as possible,
especially on the south side and the centre. Each branch should be a
foot apart. Summer prune in July and winter as before. Stop the branches
in summer, if growing rapidly, to produce fruit spurs, and in winter cut
back to strong wood (to an outer eye). All new wood will thus be
feathered during the following year. Some bushes are very diffuse and
need much room, _e.g._ Catillac and Uvedale St Germain. Bushes on quince
should be eight to twelve feet apart; strong growers, such as Pitmaston,
Duchesse d'Angouleme, Catillac, should be even more in good soil, if
root-pruning is not to be practised