STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 159k 



bleed, no matter at what season it was pruned. That thought was 

 much more fruitful to me than my orchard had been up to that time, 

 for all my trees were black-hearted, except the Siberians and Rus- 

 sians, which I at once remembered never bled, no matter when thev 

 were pruned. And at the same time I remembered that apple trees 

 are never black-hearted in Kentuck}'. 



THE CAUSE OF BLACK-HEARTEDNESS. 



The state of black-heartedness in the apple tree is unquestionably 

 the result of excessive winter's cold. In New England a large pro- 

 portion of the most popular apples are grown upon trees that are 

 more or less black-hearted. The Baldwin is always black-hearted 

 in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, and frequentl}' so in the 

 three southern New England States. Along its northern limit it can 

 only be grown when top-grafted on some hardier stock. With me a 

 Baldwin tree or graft has never lived long enough to bear an apple. 



Now, if it be true that only black-hearted trees bleed, then the ex- 

 perience of orchardists must vary according to whether they are 

 growing more tender or more hard}' sorts. When I began, though 

 I planted the hardiest known of New England sorts, yet almost all 

 mv trees became black-hearted in a few vears. Now that uearlv all 

 of that class of trees have been up-rooted from my orchard, and re- 

 placed by the "iron-clads," I see almost no bleeding, and when I 

 do see it I know the cause. I do grow a few sorts that suffer some 

 in this way (such as Fameuse), because of the excellence of their 

 fruit. The Fameuse is with me as hard}' as the Baldwin in the up- 

 per Champlain Valle}', and though the trees are short-lived in both 

 cases, the}' are planted because of the merits of the fruit. 



WHEN TO PRUNE. 



In my experience it makes no difference at what season a black- 

 hearted tree is pruned, as regards the subsequent flow of disorgan- 

 ized sap, provided the limb severed is so large that the stump will 

 not quite or nearly heal over in one season. This flow takes place 

 during the whole growing season, and injures (often kills) the bark 

 over which it runs. A tender tree, subject to black-heart, should 

 be pruned very sparingly. Branches not too large to heal over in 

 one season mav be taken off, and the best time to do this is in June, 

 as the sap is then too thick to flow freely. But heavy pruning in 

 June is a severe shock to the tree, even to the hardiest kinds, and 



