About the middle or towards the end of January, the young Apricot-tree, which has been fixed to stakes since the period of planting in autumn, may now have them removed, and, after having received the necessary pruning, be placed permanently against the wall. As the reader will already infer, the fan mode of training is, in my estimation, the best for the Apricot. Like the Cherry and Plum, it is liable to lose some of its branches without any very apparent cause, and I therefore prefer the fan style of training to all others - for this one very evident reason, viz. that if a vacancy should occur at any time it is more easily filled up than if horizontally trained. And further, the very nature and habit of the tree, and the fact that it is necessary to be preparing and laying in some fresh shoots every year in order to have a constant supply of fruit-bearing wood, as the Apricot produces its largest and finest fruit upon one and two year old shoots, make it almost necessary that the fan method of training should be adopted. If the young tree possesses seven shoots, the centre one may be cut back to about 14 or 15 inches, and the three left at either side should be shortened considerably, the under ones being left the longest.

In fixing them to the wall, train the centre one perpendicularly, and then the under ones may be elevated at an angle of, say, 25° or 30°, while the other four branches may be arranged equidistant between the centre and under ones so as to form the trained tree. If vigorous and healthy wood is made the following year, the branches may at the next training season be brought down to their permanent position. After the foundation of the young tree is thus laid, the principal work of the cultivator is to attend to the judicious selection of wood at the period of the winter-pruning. Upon this a considerable amount of the success of fruit-production depends. All rank watery wood not thoroughly ripened ought at once to be cut away, not even leaving a spur where they have been, as such spurs, in place of producing fruit-buds, in all probability would for years produce coarse rank shoots similar to the ones rejected. The permanent branches should be formed of nice, firm, short-jointed wood, the production of shoots which have not grown to a greater length than 2 to 2 1/2 feet. Such branches will have perfected their wood to the very point, and will be far more likely to produce a healthy tree than longer shoots.

These may be cut back 6 or 9 inches, to induce the formation of side-branches the following season, which branches, when spurred back, may afterwards form fruit-bearing spurs. Where the main branches are over 1 foot distant from each other, side-shoots ought to be introduced permanently, so as to keep the tree thoroughly furnished, and have all available space upon the wall covered. Between the permanent branches young shoots also may be laid in for the production of fruit, and by a judicious handling of the knife these may be removed after bearing their first crop, while others may be in readiness to take their place, thus keeping up a constant supply of good young wood all over the tree, which, as has already been stated, is much superior to what is produced upon spurs of several years' growth. A tree thus managed will never become overcrowded. Nothing can be worse than, year after year, to lay in almost all the wood that can be got, until such time as the tree has become so crowded that it is absolutely necessary to take it all down from the wall and give it a thorough "thinning out." Not only is the fruit upon such trees inferior in size and quality, but the check such an operation produces upon it often proves very injurious, and sometimes fatal; as I have often noticed that where this had to be done year after year, branch after branch died away, until nothing but a skeleton was left, which eventually had to be tossed aside.

In cutting away the points from the shoots of the Apricot, it is necessary to be very careful that the front bud is a leaf and not a flower producer. No one need fear to make a cut before treble buds, as the centre one is sure to be a leaf-bud; but when cutting before one bud only, the operator ought to be convinced that it is a leaf-bud ere he applies the knife. The practical eye can easily detect which is which, but the beginner must be careful until experience enables him to distinguish the one from the other.

Like all other trees, the Apricot at times has a tendency to grow rank in some parts, while in others the reverse may be the case. I have more than once referred to this in treating of other fruits, so now it may suffice to state that the best means of producing a well-balanced tree is by regulating the amount of foliage produced on its several parts. Whatever portion of the tree has a tendency to grow too strong should have its breadth of foliage at once curtailed, by pinching out all the side and lateral shoots; and if this has not the desired effect, portions of the leaves may be cut away, and the branch bent down to retard the flow of sap. On the other hand, the weak portion of the tree should be encouraged as much as possible by being elevated into a position likely to encourage the flow of sap, while the foliage should be exposed as much as possible to the light and air, and the result in a year or two will be a well-balanced, healthy, and vigorous tree.

In summer the Apricot requires to be well attended to with regard to pinching, pruning, and disbudding. As soon as the young shoots are an inch long or thereabouts, the tree ought to be regularly gone over, and all badly-placed shoots at once removed by gently rubbing them off with the finger and thumb. I would not recommend, however, that all the shoots, save those for permanent use, should be removed at this time. I would leave three times the quantity necessary, so that a good selection could be made therefrom. It is an easy matter to go over the trees again in June and July and remove the superfluous shoots, taking care, however, not to rub them off this time with the finger and thumb, as the wound caused thereby might cause gum to exude, to the ultimate injury of the health of the tree. All branches removed after the wood has obtained any degree of solidity ought to be nicely cut off with a good sharp knife, as the wound caused thereby will speedily heal over, and will not be so likely to produce gum. In winter the shoots required may be laid in their places, and others cut back so as to form spurs. To induce the formation of spurs, the shoot ought to be cut back from 1 to 1 1/2 inch from whence it started.

Nothing looks so bad as spurs 3 and 4 inches in length, while there is no practical benefit to be obtained thereby.

Root-pruning is not so absolutely necessary for the Apricot as for many other kinds of fruits; yet in many cases it may prove of much practical utility. Where the borders have not been prepared with great care, more particularly if there is a known substratum of tenacious cold clay, it will be necessary every two or three years to have recourse to a regular system of root-pruning. The trees themselves will in most cases give a true index of their wants in this way, by the production of long watery growths, which never ripen, and rarely produce few, if any, flower-buds. Wherever a tendency in this direction is shown, let root-pruning be had recourse to at once. In the case of young trees not more than three or four years planted, they may with much immediate benefit be operated upon in September; but where the trees are of some considerable age, and never have been root-pruned, the month of January or the early part of February will be found the best for performing this operation. In either case much care must be exercised in order to injure as little as possible any of the roots.

A trench ought to be cut round at some distance from the tree with a spade, after which steel forks ought to be used to work forward in the direction of the tree, shaking every root free from the soil as the operation proceeds until the whole are laid bare. All the roots which have a downward tendency, and all which are gross and devoid of fibre, ought to be taken away with a sharp knife, leaving as clean a wound as possible. After the whole has been gone over carefully, the tree may be replanted, using as much fresh good soil of the nature already recommended as can be procured. Give the whole a good watering if the soil is dry; afterwards mulch the surface, and the operation is finished. James M'Millan.

(To he continued).