RETORT ON THE PRUNING OF THE RARER CONIFERS. 337 



easily be tested by cutting two twigs of Weymouth pine (Strobus) 

 of two years' growth, one with a knife, the other with the averun- 

 cator, when it will be found that the wound made by the latter 

 will not only bleed far less, but will also heal much more quickly 

 than that made with the knife — the bruised grain of the wood 

 acting as a kind of salve or plaster to exclude the air. We 

 consider the averuncator quite indispensable for the successful 

 pruning of eoniferse ; and we would also recommend every pruner 

 to possess a good hand-knife, a long-handled hedge bill and shears, 

 a Kentish bill (Fenn's, Newgate Street, London), fine and rougher 

 hand-saws, and a long-handed down-cut saw. 



Although the method of pruning is the matter of most con- 

 sequence, the state of the tree and the season of the year have 

 also much to do with the successful issue of the operation, for 

 the same tree will exhibit very different results from being 

 pruned at different stages of its growth and in various conditions 

 of climate. Generally speaking, the younger a tree is the better 

 it will bear pruning, and the more marked and decided will be 

 the benefit it derives from the operation ; indeed, we would 

 strongly recommend a regular system of examining all nursery 

 lines and young conifers in borders, for the purpose of removing 

 at once any superfluous or misplaced shoots, and we are con- 

 vinced that the trouble of doing so would be amply repaid by 

 the increased strength and vigour of the plants, as well as by 

 their more graceful form. Another great advantage resulting 

 from the proper training of plants in their infancy is, that trees 

 which have been carefully pointed and disbudded when they 

 were young will require very much less pruning and interference 

 with afterwards than specimens which have been neglected 

 in their youth ; and it must be always borne in mind that the 

 removal of a large branch from a tree which has attained maturity 

 is not only attended with a certain amount of danger to the life 

 of the plant, but that it invariably leaves an unsightly scar, and 

 very often makes a blank in the leafage of the tree, which is not 

 supplied by the other branches for many years. 



With regard to the season of the year at which the operation 

 of pruning is attended with most success, we think that June 

 will probably be found the best month in which to remove rival 

 leading shoots and to pinch in obtrusive side twigs ; but as it is 

 always better, if possible, to rub out the bud-eyes of double tops, 

 this should be done in spring, as soon as the offending point is 

 observed ; indeed, conifers may be pruned with complete safety 

 at any time late in spring if the weather is favourable, or about 

 the end of October after a dry autumn. The Larix tribe do not 

 bear pruning well in summer, as they are apt to bleed too freely 

 if wounded at that season; but Mr Skirving, of Walton Nurseries, 

 Liverpool, who is a most experienced and skilful manager of 



