and
should be headed back to where the graft is to be fixed in January,
unless the weather is frosty, but in any case before vegetation becomes
active. The scions should be cut about the same time, and laid in firmly
in a trench, in contact with the moist soil, until required.

The tree will thrive in any good well-drained soil, the best being a
good mellow calcareous loam, while the less iron there is in the subsoil
the better. The addition of marl to soils that are not naturally
calcareous very much improves them. The trees are liable to canker in
undrained soils or those of a hot sandy nature. Where the soil is not
naturally rich enough, it should be well manured, but not to the extent
of encouraging over-luxuriance. It is better to apply manure in the form
of a compost than to use it in a fresh state or unmixed.

To form an orchard, standard trees should be planted at from 25 to 40
ft. between the rows, according to the fertility of the soil and other
considerations. The trees should be selected with clean, straight,
self-supporting stems, and the head should be shapely and symmetrical,
with the main branches well balanced. In order to obtain such a stem,
all the leaves on the first shoot from the graft or bud should be
encouraged to grow, and in the second season the terminal bud should be
allowed to develop a further leading shoot, while the lateral shoots
should be allowed to grow, but so that they do not compete with the
leader, on which the growth of leaves should be encouraged in order that
they may give additional strength to the stem below them. The side
shoots should be removed gradually, so that the diminution of foliage in
this direction may not exceed the increase made by the new branches and
shoots of the upper portion. Dwarf pyramids, which occupy less space
than open dwarfs, if not allowed to grow tall, may be planted at from 10
to 12 ft. apart. Dwarf bush trees may be planted from 10 to 15 ft.
apart, according to the variety and the soil. Dwarf bushes on the
Paradise stock are both ornamental and useful in small gardens, the
trees being always conveniently under control. These bush trees, which
must be on the proper stock--the French Paradise--may be planted at
first 6 ft. apart, with the same distance between the rows, the space
being afterwards increased, if desired, to 12 ft. apart, by removing
every alternate row.

"Cordons" are trees trained to a single shoot, the laterals of which are
kept