1871.] PRUNING. 463 



well in again, and try them another year; and if they did not do, 

 threatened to pull them out, and plant other sorts. We strongly 

 advised him to put on plenty heat in his pipes throughout the day, 

 with top ventilation, and allow the houses to get cold at nights 

 with front ventilation, and not to shorten the wood at all in winter, 

 though it was as long and as strong as "Raspberry canes, and try what 

 the result would be next year ; but our friend was doubtful. We 

 believe that unripe wood and close pruning have much to do with 

 shanking, if not everything to do with it; and we believe that 

 Peaches and Nectarines, if not other fruits, are as liable to shank as 

 Grapes. Apricots and Plums are well known sometimes to throw off 

 their fruit wholesale at the second swelling ; — this is peculiar to some 

 varieties more than others. "We have long been satisfied that this 

 phenomenon and the shanking of Grapes are one and the same 

 thing, and are the result of a badly-fed immature tree. Now is the 

 best time to prune all fruit-trees; thin out all useless wood, so as to 

 fully expose all foliage which is to mature the buds. The time was 

 within our memory when the pruning of fruit-trees was held to be 

 the most important part of their culture, and the annual crop was held 

 to depend on the annual pruning in winter ; and every non-professional 

 possessed of a garden considered himself highly favoured if he could 

 secure the services of some neighbouring licensed wielder of the knife ; 

 and if he did not eat of the fruit the following season, he could con- 

 gratulate himself he had done his best by having the best advice. 

 Bad pruning and spring-frosts were the explanation of all failure, 

 which should have been attributed more properly to exhausted trees 

 and badly-ripened wood. 



The object in growing fruit-trees at all is to have fruit : the primary 

 condition to fruitfulness is a well-fed tree and ripe wood ; a second- 

 ary condition to secure ripe wood is pruning. All pruning should be 

 done with this in view, even the summer-pruning of the Vine. The 

 primary object of pruning is not to have a well-shaped, well-trained 

 tree — that is a secondary object. Pruning in winter has nothing to do 

 with the ripening of the wood, consequently all winter-pruning as a 

 primary operation is useless, and may just as well be left undone. 

 Koot-pruning even should not be done in winter, as is usual, from 

 there being more time, but rather about the end of August, to give the 

 trees time to repair the damage while there is foliage on them. 



The Squire's Gardener. 



