254.  PYRAMID  FORM.— The  first  year,  prune  the  graft  at
5  or  6  inches  from  the  bottom,  saving  3  or  4  eyes  to  form  lateral
branches  and  to  carry  up  the  stem ;  but  these  first  lateral  branches
are  essential,  for  they  will  furnish  the  requisite  abundance  of  wood
below,  which,  when  the  tree  has  obtained  a  certain  height,  cannot
be  obtained,  and  yet  which  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  beauty
as  well  as  utility  of  the  pyramid.  Suffer  no  other  shoots  this  year
than  from  the  3  or  4  buds  mentioned  above.  Stop  the  upright
stem  every  year  when  it  has  shot  to  the  length  o?  12  or  18  inches,
and  this  will  force  it  to  send  out  every  year  a  set  of  lateral  shoots,
and  of  these  you  make  your  election  of  3  or  4  to  save.  At  the
pruning  time,  shorten  the  lateral  branches  more  or  less,  according
to  the  vigour  of  the  tree  and  the  just  distribution  of  sap  amongst
all  the  branches.  If  you  wish  to  raise  a  branch,  prune  at  an  upper
bud  ;  and  at  a  lower  bud  to  lower  a  branch.  If  you  wish  to  cause
a  branch  to  tend  to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  choose  a  bud  situated  on
the  right  or  the  left  side  to  prune  at.  In  either  case,  to  prevent
the  branch  going  straight,  you  have  nothing  to  do  but  prune  a
little  way  above  the  bud.  Thus  the  training  continues  ;  and,  as
the  lowermost  branches  are  always  a  year  older  than  the  upper,
this  gradation  should  be  preserved  in  the  length  of  the  blanches,
which  of  course  must  diminish  by  stages  all  the  way  up,  from
the  base  to  the  summit.  This  sort  of  training  conduces  at  once
to  the  fruitfulness  and  to  the  duration  of  the  tree.
