m6 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August i, 1882. 



cut, have no idea in piiming beyond cutting the largest 

 amount of wood in the shortest time. Climl>iug spiu-s 

 should never be used by good workmen even, in prun- 

 ing young trees, whose bark is not sufficiently thick to 

 resist the wounds caused by the sharp ii'on teeth o£ 

 this tool. Wounds made in this way encourage the 

 growth of injurious side shoots on the trunk, and leave 

 defects in the wood which never disappear, and dimuiish 

 its value. 



The future value of a tree depends upon the manner 

 in which the operation of pruning has been performed ; 

 and the persons to whom this work is entrusted should 

 fully understand its importance. Uuskilful.or injudicimis 

 pruning may completely ruin a tree, and the difficulty 

 of obtaining laboiir capable of doing such work intel- 

 ligently causes, no doubt, many arboriculturists to com- 

 pletely neglect pruning of every kind. 



The Dcndroicopi'. — The tree requiring pruning should 

 be carefully studied from the ground, that the operator 

 may be able to judge intelligently which branches should 

 be removed or shortened iu order to reduce it to the 

 desii-ed shape. This may at iii-st seem difficult to be- 

 ginners in the art of praning; and a dendi'oscope, the 

 name suggested for a simple little contrivance, may be 

 here used with advantage. A dendroseope may be made 

 from a i^iece of thin board or cardboard (a playing- 

 card answers the puqiose), in which a hole of the shape 

 it is desked to reduce the ti'ee to has been cut. Across 

 the middle of the hole, from top to bottom, a piece of 

 flue wire is stretched to serve as a guide to the eye. 



Holding the dendi-oscope at the level of the eye, with 

 the ivire opposite the centre of the ti'unk of the tree 

 to be studied, the operator approaches the tree imtil 

 the bottom of the cut falls on the trunk at the ground 

 line. It is easy to see at a glance with the aid of this 

 contrivance what operations should be performed in order 

 to reduce the tree to the desii'cd shape. 



Remembering that under ordinary cu'cumstances a 

 vigorous, handsome tree must have a straight, vertical 

 trunk and an evenly-balanced head, the first object of 

 pruning should bo to produce these conditions. The 

 head, as has abeady been explained, should be oval in 

 form ; the height of this, however, must depend on the 

 size of the trunk and the age of the tree when fii'st 

 subjected to the operations of priming. 



Selection of the Leader. — The branch most nearly 

 perpendicular on the trunk of the tree should lie selected 

 to form the leader ; and it may be stated as an absolute 

 rule that ivhenever a branch near the top of the tree 

 stands vertically on the trunk, or even on any part oj 

 the trunk, it should be preserved for the leader. 



And it is wrong to suppose that only the original 

 leader can be used. Its place may be often supplied 

 by one of the lateral branches even ; and by shortening 

 tiie otlier branches to stimulate the gi-owth of the new 

 leader, the tr-ee wUl, in a few years, straighten up in 

 a manner which will appear astonishing' to persons un- 

 familiar with the results which may be obtained from 

 a sensible system of pruning. 



If none of the branches near the top of the tree 

 naturally approach a vertical position, two or three or 

 several branches should be preserved to form a com- 

 pact head. If the tree so treatel is youug, it is desir- 

 able, if possible, to establish the fork at a distance from 

 the groimd equal to at least oue-thii'd of the height 

 which the tree may be expected to attain at maturity. 

 Shortening Main Branches. — Starting from the top of 

 the tree, where the operation of pruning should always 

 begin, the leader is first foimed \\'ith the branch selected 

 for this purpose ; the head is made with a single leader : 

 or, in case of necessity with several leade'S. The prin- 

 cipal branches, if too long, should then be shortened, 

 especially those inclined to assume a vertical position 

 or to gi'ow with too gi'eat vigom' at the expense of 

 the leader ; such branches are called gourmands. It 

 •will be seen that the riyUt point at which to shorten 



these vertical branches is the point where they begin 

 to assume an upright growth. 



In shortening branches, the cut shoiild, if possible, be 

 made above the point of development of one or several 

 secondai-y ascending branches ; these in tm-n should also 

 be cut just above one of then' secondary branches. In 

 this way the dii-ection of the main brsinch may be en- 

 tirely changed, and its disproportionate vigom- checked 

 to the benefit of the leader and the whole tree. 



Sap Lifters. — The name sap lifter (Branche d'appel) 

 may, for want of a lietter term, be given to the branch 

 or branches retained at the end of the shortened main 

 branch. The name indicates the object for which such 

 branches are left ; namely, to attract and elaborate, by 

 means of then- leaves, » sufficieut flow of sap to eusm-e 

 the gi-owth of the branch. Sometimes the matu branches 

 are so long that it is impossilile for the operator to 

 reach the euds where the sap-lifting br.xnchlets should, 

 of com-se, be left. In the case of the oak, such branches, 

 except for the appearance of the tree, are of little_ im- 

 portance; and provided the main branch retained is of 

 a certain length (ten or twelve feet), aiul if it is large 

 and on a large healthy tree, a sufficient number of new 

 shoots to- ensm-e -s-igorous gi-owth wiU soon appear. 

 With the beech, however, and some other trees which 

 do not develop shoots from dormant buds as freely as 

 the oak, it is necessaiy to cut the branch just above 

 the foi-ldng of another branch or branchlet large enough 

 to attract sufficient sap to ensm-e a healthy growth. 



Double or Forkiiui Branches. — In the case of a double 

 branch, or of a branch forking close to the trunk of 

 the tree, one of these branches should always be re- 

 moved, that the base of the branch may not become dis- 

 proportionately large. If, however, such doulile branches 

 are objectionable near the trunk of the tree, they are 

 of great importance at the extremities of main branches ; 

 and whenever it is possible branches shoidd be sliort- 

 ened in such a manner as to secm-e forking branchlets 

 at theii- euds. These give to the tree a more natural 

 appearance, and by dividing the flow of sap prevent 

 the growth of too -vigorous shoots, which might in time 

 develop into supplementary leaders, to the injm-y of the 

 tree. For this reason it is necessary to remove all 

 branches or branchlets assuming a vertical growth or 

 inserted on the upper side of a shortened branch, in 

 order to check the tendency of such branches to grow 

 too vigorously at the expense of the leader. 



Although essential in pniniug young trees, this is less 

 important in the case of older trees -\vith large full 

 heads, which in themselves have a tendency to check 

 an unuatm-ally strong growth of any individual branch ; 

 and in operating on old trees the preservation of -ligour 

 in the shortened branch is the principal object to be 

 attained. It is almost unnecessary to add that only 

 main branches du-ected towards the outside of the tree 

 should be presei-ved, and that branches which from any 

 cause have tm-ned back towards the trimk should be 

 headed in, as well as branches -n-ith too gi-eat a tend- 

 ency to droop unnatm-aUy ; generally, it wiU only be 

 necessary to shorten such branches to induce them to - 

 reassiune a natural dii-ection of gi-owth. 



When several branches have been developed from one 

 node, forming what botanists call a whorl, they shoidd 

 not all be cut away at the same time, lest the circul- 

 ation of sap be checked by the destruction of bark (and 

 consequently of cambium layer) over too large a surface. 

 All dead and dying wood should be removed by the 

 workmen in descenling the tree ; lioliens, and otlier 

 parasites -(vhich interfere -with the groivth of youug trees, 

 should be knocked oft' with the back of the pruning 

 knife ; and the mistletoe, the most destructive of all 

 parasites to tree life, should be carefully removed by 

 cutting off the branch beai-ing it. 



The necessity of commencing- the operation of pr-ou- 

 ing at the top of the tree must be insisted on; in no 

 other way can the form proper to the tree be estab- 



