16 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



"Pruning is an operation of vast importance in the managment of trees, and 

 the principles upon which it is founded must be clearly understood before complete 

 success in fruit culture can be attained. 



"The time of pruning, whether durinar the rummer or during the winter, will 

 depend upon the object to be attained. A brief consideration of plant growth will 

 assist us in determining this question. When a seed is deposited in a suitable ger- 

 minating medium, its first effort is to send a root downward in the eaHh, and then 

 push a shoot upward into the air. The seed contains within itself all the nutri- 

 ment necessary for this purpose, but as soon as the young plant is so far formed its 

 mode of existence is changed, and it becomes dependent upon the soil and atmos- 

 phere for future support. The elementary substances absorbed by the roots 

 undergo decomposition through the influence of the leaves, and the material is 

 thus prepared for further root growth and extension, but is dependent upon the 

 health and action of the foliage : and. although in germination the roots are first 

 formed, their growth is due to the action of the foliage of the plant that produced 

 the seed from which they emitted. It is therefore appai'ent that the increase in 

 the size of the plant, the quality and quantity of its secretions, and the extension 

 of its roots, are all dependent upon the healthy action of the leaves. When it is 

 considered how essential the foliage is to the healthy development of the plant we 

 may well pause before infringing upon the reciprocal action nature has established 

 between the roots and branches, for it is evident that every branch or leaf removed 

 has an eff'ect either for good or for evil upon the plant. The correlative action 

 between the leaves and roots being so intimately connected, it follows that any 

 diminution of leaf growth during the period of active vegetation must retard root 

 development. Hence it is an axiom, now becoming recognized, that summer 

 pruning weakens growth, while winter pruning produces a contrary effect. Sum- 

 mer pruning can be useful where wood growfu is to be checked, and it will be 

 repressed in proportion to the severity of tbe removal of the foliage. 



" Fruit-trees when planted in a generous soil frequently attain a luxuriance 

 incompatible with a fruitful habit, and their flowering may be somewhat hastened 

 by judicious pruning or pinching, so as to retard wood growth, but care must be 

 exercised, and much observation and experience are requisite before the object 

 can be safely attained. Winter pruning invigorates wood growth. When a portion 

 of the branches of a tree is removed, after the fall of the leaves, the balance of 

 growth is destroyed and the roots have the preponderance. The remaining buds 

 will now shoot forth with increased vigor, an important consideration with trees 

 or vines that have become weakened from over-bearing or other cause, imparting 

 new vigor to weak and sickly plants. The time for winter pruning may be regu- 

 lated by the condition of the plant. If pruned immediately after the fall of the 

 leaves, the shoots will be stronger the succeeding season than they would be if the 

 operation had been delayed till spring. This arises from the fact that during the 

 winter the plant still continues to absorb food by the roots, which is distributed 

 over its branches. And, as the principal flow of sap is always directed to the 

 extreme points or shoots, the high buds are most fully developed. 



" If, therefore, pruning is delayed till spring this accumalation is cut and thrown 

 away, and to that extent the plant is weakened. Early winterpruning is eminently 

 advantageous to native grapes. As the retained buds become charged with sap 

 during the winter, they start and advance rapidly — a matter of much moment 

 where the summers are rather short for ripening the fruit and wood of these 

 plants. There is a tendency in many varieties of trees to form strong central 

 growth at the expense of the side branches, more especially while the plants are 



