January i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



609 



manufacturer or importer thereof, except under the following 

 conditions : — 



(a.) The article, or suhstance, or mixture shall be placed 

 in packets, eacli containing one quarter of a lb., or any 

 numiter of quarters of a lb. 



{b.) Each such packet shull have affixed thereto a label 

 or labels, (which shall not h;ivu been before used), denoting 

 the proper amount of duty payable upon such packet, 

 according to the weight thereof. 



(f.) Such label or labels, shall be affixed so that the 

 whole thereof shall adhere to the packet, and so that the 

 packet cannot bo opened without tearing or destroying the 

 label or labels. 



(d.) AYhtre more than one label is affixed to any packet, 

 the labels shall be affixed so that every label shall be 

 wholly or partially visible. 



Prov-idt'd that each such packet containing, or purporting 

 to contain, Cotfee with any other article, or substance 

 mixed therewith shall have atfixed thereto a label, in manner 

 hereiabefore provided, denoting io letters of not less size 

 than the largest letters affixed to, or imprinted on, such 

 label the proper name of the several articles or substances 

 of which such mixture is composed. 



(2.) If any person shall sell or expose to sale or offer 

 or keep ready for sale, or deliver out of his custody or 

 possession any such article or substance or mixture as afore- 

 said, otherwise than in conformity with the above conditiuns, 

 he shall furefeit the same, and incur a fine of twenty 

 pounds. 



(3.) In any proceeding for recovery of the fine imposed 

 by this section, if any question -shall arise whether any 

 label shall have been before used, proof that such label 

 had not been before used shall lie upon the defendant. 



(4). Provided that nothing in this Act contained shall 

 in any way atfect any Act or Acts now in force relating 

 to the adulteration of food. 



7. If any person who shall prepare, manufacture, sell, 

 keep for sale, or import any article or substance or mixture 

 upon which a duty of Excise is imposed by this Act, shall 

 buy, receive, or have in his possession any label provided 

 under this Act which shall have been before used, or any 

 portion of such a label (whether such label or portion 

 shall be loose or affixed to any packet), he shall incur 

 a fine of one hundred pounds, and every such label or 

 portion shall be seized. • 



The following is the termination of a Circular issued 

 on the 14th August by the Inland Kevenue: — 



AVholesale Coffee or Chicory dealers, roasters of Chicory 

 or Coffee, Chicory dryers, and persons making any sub- 

 stitute for Coffee or Chicory, or mixtures therewith, must be 

 furnished with a copy of this Order, and officers must prepare 

 schemes in the Store and General Register, in which they 

 must enter the names of such traders, and the date of 

 furnishing them with a copy of this Order. It will be 

 observed that the Customs and Excise duties on Chicory 

 as imported or as grown in the United Kingdom, remain 

 as at present. Chicory dryers will, therefore, be liable to 

 duty as hitherto, but such traders must understand that 

 if any admixture of other articles occurs in the process 

 of drying or roasting, they will not be entitled to sell 

 such mixture without the required Excise duty label being 

 affixed upon the package. Pure Coffee or pure Chicory 

 may be sold without labels as hitherto ; a mixture of Coffee 

 and Chicory must, however, be labelled as required by 

 the Adulteration of Food Acts, but no Excise label will 

 be necessary. — Produce Markets' Review. 



PRUNING FOR FRUIT. 



Pruning is a thing needing regular attention or none — 

 that is to say, every season as it comes round. Although 

 an artificial operation which some think is at variance 

 witli nature, in reality it is not so. Certainly once doing 

 it makes its continuance the more compulsory, but it cati 

 never well be done without, and as an adjunct to hi'jfh- 

 cla'-s cultivatinn may be regarded at once as indispensable. 

 It finds its place in gardening operations as being some- 

 what anticipatory of nature's method of getting rid of 

 worn-out wno<l, and whero appi*arances also are studied, 

 is u:iquestiunably much better. For instance, leave a peach- 

 tree to itself, uncared for and unpruned, what would be 

 the result ? It would grow and bear fairly for a year or 



two when sufficiently matured, and would then rapidly 

 become misshapen, ugly, barren, and useless ; while, with 

 proper attention with the knife, as much fruit could have 

 been ripened by it in the same time, au'l the tree kept 

 in health and luxuriance. This being so, pruning cannot 

 be at variance with nature, but must, on the contrary 

 be helpful to it. And what is hero said of the peach 

 applies with equal force to any other fruit-bearing tree. 

 Let the ailvocates of non-pruning illustrate thi^ir caso with 

 as good a show of reason as the advocate of pruning does, 

 and then men of common sense will listen and obey; but 

 it cannot be. The object of all j^runing is to preserve 

 the tree or plant in as healthful and vigorous a condition 

 as possible, and for a prolonged period ; and if it cannot be 

 .shown that pruning, judiciously and seasonably done, is 

 beneficial, let it be summarily abandoned. 



The tools required for a large amount of pruning are 

 a good pruning saw, a pruning knife, and one or two sizes 

 of French or English pruning scissors. Added to these 

 must also be a pair of :itout leather gloves — fear-nonghts 

 — with which the thorny citrus family* can be fearlessly 

 approached. Of course the owner of a small garden con- 

 taining but a few trees may do all the work he requires 

 with a good pruning knife, an ordinary saw, and a handy 

 little pair of pruning shears. Another useful pruning tool 

 has been patented in America recently — a pruning chisel — 

 said to be very effectual in lopping off' large Ijrauches 

 when out of reach, and, as it makes a clean cut, it is 

 likely to prove a most serviceable implement. Saws and 

 scissors are both objectionable tools, as they make an ugly 

 cut which prevents rapid healing. It is understood iu 

 pruning that the cut should be a clean one — that is, per- 

 fectly smooth on the surface, with the bark uninjured and 

 intact to the margin of the cut. Neither a saw nor a 

 pair of shears can make such a cut, and tlierefore with 

 particular work it is customary to follow both these tools 

 with a very keen strong knife, and trim the uneven and 

 ragged cuts made by them. Nor is this practice uncalled 

 for ; it is iu unison with nature's requirements, and al- 

 lows of healing, and that speedily, where otherwise it 

 might never be possible. So much for preliminaries, all- 

 importaut in connection with a work of this kind. 



Pruning for fruit^that is the idea. Pruning may be 

 done for leaves or wood, but except in some such grounds 

 as a tea plantation it would be altogether out of place, 

 Alt trees cannot be pruned after one model, but every 

 tree after its nature, or according to its habit of bearing. 

 To know how to prune any given tree, its habit of bear- 

 ing — whether on the points of the shoots, at the axils of 

 the leaves, or on short spurs projecting from the old wood 

 — has to be taken into account, and the work done ac- 

 cordingly. The peach, almond, mulberry, and nectarine are 

 alike in this respect, and bear, principally at least, on the 

 ripened wood of the previous year's growth. "When these 

 drop their leaves and are ready for the knife, the flower 

 buds are to be seen, so that a mere tyro in pruning can 

 scarcely make a mistake if he uses his eyes. All these 

 require is to be cleaned out in the centre of all shoots 

 that are weak and straggling, many of which may be half 

 dead ; when so far done shorten all the leading shoots 

 which show well for bloom, ami make the ends as snug 

 and trim as can be done judiciously ; then finally cut clean 

 out any misplaced or spent branches, leaving nothing to 

 form a rotten spur of unsightly wood. When done the 

 tree should be even all tlu-ough, well balanced, and cap- 

 able of feeling the influence of air and light everywhere 

 through it, without the constant rays of the sun beaming 

 anywhere. Then there are the apple, pear, plum, and 

 cherry, all which bear their fruit on short spurs which 

 project an inch or two or more from the wood of the 

 matiu-ed branches. In pruning for fruit these spurs must 

 be lookid for, and only when misplaced or spent branches 

 show themselves should they be separated from tlie tree. 

 When hranche.s cross each other and chafe, one of them 

 is misplaced, and should bo cut out to prevent injury 

 beint; done to both. As a rule, weak shoots, crowded, 

 misplacL'il, or exhausted wood, and the long straggling 

 tops of these roots arc what should be cut away. Keep 

 always the general symmetry of the tree in view when 



^ In the case of the orange it seems to have been proved 

 that nothing should be cut away except dried or dying 

 wood. — Ed. 



