336 REPORT ON THE PRUNING OF THE RARER CONIFERS. 



cular, requires to be conducted with great care and judgment, 

 and we are convinced that the beneficial results of such pruning 

 would very soon be apparent. 



In pruning coniferse, the great risk of injuring the tree, by 

 inducing too much bleeding or gumming, should always be borne 

 in mind; and to obviate this danger we would suggest that, where- 

 ever it is practicable, " pointing " or " disbudding," by pinching 

 off with the fingers the terminal points of lateral shoots, is the 

 safest mode of pruning to adopt, and if done at a sufficiently 

 early stage of the growth of the rebellious branch, no further 

 treatment will be found necessary. Should it, however, be need- 

 ful to remove a large branch which is disfiguring the tree, and 

 whose existence had been overlooked till it attained considerable 

 dimensions, we would not hesitate to cut it back, if it is a lateral 

 branch, to one half of its length, if necessary, but we would care- 

 fully avoid removing it close to the main stem, as it is of great 

 importance in pruning resinous trees not to inflict a wound very 

 near the trunk, because the bark in healing grows up round the 

 edges of the wound in the form of a cup, forming a receptacle for 

 the rain, and as the wood of trees of the pine tribe is of an open 

 and porous nature, the water eats into informing black knots in the 

 timber which materially detract both from its beauty and value. 

 If, for any reason, it is absolutely necessary to remove a branch 

 close to the main stem, a preparation composed of equal parts of 

 Archangel and coal tar, boiled together till of a proper thickness, 

 and when cold applied with a common paint-brush or a piece 

 of wood, will be found very useful in excluding the air and 

 preventing rot. This mixture is also very valuable for applying 

 to small branches of the rarer coniferse which may require 

 foreshortening, and we would recommend every person who is 

 interested in pine culture to keep a tin flask of it ready for use. 



If it is needful to remove a large branch from any valuable 

 specimen tree, the risk in doing so will be much obviated by 

 preparing the branch for its removal. The method we pursue is 

 to cut it back about one-third of its length, and then to denude 

 the limb of its young shoots ; by these means we lessen the flow 

 of sap in the part, and after a little time the removal of the rest 

 of the limb may be effected with comparative safety. It is of 

 great consequence in pruning coniferee to go to work gradually, 

 and not to do too much at one time, as over-bleeding or gumming 

 is very apt to ensue when the wounds made are either numerous 

 or large. We may remark, that a ragged abrasion bleeds far less 

 than a clean cut, and for this reason we always employ the 

 " averuncator," when its use is at all practicable ; it easily cuts 

 branches off an inch in diameter ; and for amputating large 

 limbs close to the trunk of the tree we find a saw answers best. 

 The superiority of the averuncator to an ordinary knife may 



