2U 



HORTICULTUBE 



February 15, 1913 



plants for the production of his stock for another year. 

 In order to keep them growing they should be shifted 

 until they are in a o-inch pot. For a compost use a 

 good rich mixture, as fibrous soil three parts and well- 

 decayed manure one part. Pot firmly and give a good 



Mr. FnrreU's next notes will be on the (oUowing : Crotons; Care 



Primulas ; Shading 



thorough watering to penetrate all tlie soil. Give them 

 plenty of light and all the suu possible with a temper- 

 ature of about 55 degrees at night, increasing by day to 

 70 or 75 degrees. Keep all the buds picked off, which 

 will throw the full strength into growth. 



of Violets; Decorative Foliage Plants: Fancv-Leaved Caladiums; 

 Palms and Ferns. 



OUT-DOOR VEGETABLES AND FRUIT 



The Orchard 



On any days suitable for out-door operations the prun- 

 ing of the orchard should be attended to, and in doing 

 so it is well to bear in mind the several objects to be 

 aimed at in pruning fruit trees generally. These are a 

 balanced and desirable formation, next a sufficient thin- 

 ning of growths to let in all the sunlight possible to every 

 part of the tree, and last pruning to obtain the formation 

 of fruit spurs, though this last object is undoubtedly bet- 

 ter obtained by summer pruning than by the same oper- 

 ation in winter. 



Pruning Young Tree* 



In pruning young trees a definite object must be kept 

 in view, viz. : the framework of the future tree. Fotir 

 to six main branches should be selected and it is impor- 

 tant that these leave the trunk at different heights and 

 still be as near the ground as possible. In the second 

 year these main branches should be pruned back to 

 twenty or twenty-four inches long and during the second 

 summer secondary branches, two in number, should be 

 allowed to form on each of the main branches, taking off 

 all others. In the third summer two or three .side 

 branches should be formed on the secondary shoots and 

 so on till a good fruiting tree is formed. 



Old Trees and Tree Surgery 



In old trees we often get a lot of what are called sucker 

 or water growths, and as a general principle these should 

 be removed at the earliest possible moment, but there are 

 times when they may he left — or at any rate some of 

 them — to build up a new frame, at the same time grad- 

 ually removing the oldest and weakest brandies. By this 

 means old trees may be renovated and made to do as well 

 as ever. It is frequently necessary to remove large 

 branches from full-grown trees for various reasons, some- 

 times because the wind has broken them and at other 

 times for the purposes of thinning, but whatever the 

 cause it is very desirable for the operator to have some 

 little knowledge of the fundamentals of tree surgery, 

 upon which here follows a little digression. These are 

 the days of the most active campaigning ou the part of 

 the tree experts, of various grades, who are daily solicit- 

 ing the owners of estates to have their trees attended to at 

 once, implying frequently that if the trees are not given 

 expert attention immediately the most dire results are 

 almost sure to follow. Xow tliis may be very good busi- 

 ness on the part of the tree experts and it may be expedi- 

 ent for the gardener in most cases to have these men do 

 ihe work but I feel sure that all sensible men will agree 

 with me when I say that the gardener or superintendent 

 should have sufficient knowledge of the proper care of all 

 trees, be they fruit or forest, ornamental or useful trees. 

 to properly supervise the work of the professional tree 

 pruners. I do not jiropose here and now to write a 

 treatise on this subject but only to state a few of its ele- 

 mentary propositions and then to tell the reader where 

 he might easily obtain fuller knowledge from tlic foun- 



tain head. Briefly stated, I would take as of first impor- 

 tance the removal of decaying or dead limbs or branches. 

 If the cut is to be made out on the branch and not back 

 to the trunk be sure to make a rather long sloping cut 

 toward the tree from a branchlet or a bud, this branchlet 

 or bud to act as a conveyer of sap out to the extreme end 

 of the cut so as to promote healthy healing over of the 

 wound. Should it be necessary to cut right back to the 

 main trunk, if the branch be a heavy one it should be 

 first cut off some two or three feet out so that it will not 

 make a long ugly tear in the bark of the tree trunk as it 

 is very apt to do in falling. This being accomplished it 

 should next be cut right back and the wound carefully 

 trimmed to conform to the shape of the trunk. Do not 

 be afraid that you will make too big a wound ; this will 

 not do a quarter the damage that leaving an inch or two 

 of the limb which you are attempting to remove will do. 

 It is in this cutting back close to the trunk that most 

 men fail in this class of work. All wounds should be 

 painted over with coal tar or with a good paint. The 

 next matter of importance is the care of holes which we 

 so frequently find in trees tliat have been neglected. With 

 a chisel or other suitable tool remove all the decayed mat- 

 ter and then fill the hole with a good strong mixture of 

 Portland cement, finishing off in such manner as to shed 

 the rain. Treat it as a dentist treats a hole in a tooth — 

 exclude air and moisture. A further development of this 

 subject would deal with the trimming of trees to get a 

 proper shajoe or a new head on old trees by the process 

 known as pollarding, but for these I will refer my read- 

 ers to the f oun tain head above referred to, viz. : a little 

 book on tree pruning by A. Des Cars and published by 

 the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agricul- 

 ture. A careful perusal of this little book will ground 

 its readers with sufficient knowledge to properly super- 

 vise the work of the tree experts or to have it carried out 

 by his own men. 



The Making of Hot-Beds 



For those who Iiave no greenhouse and still wish to get 

 some early vegetables started, it is advisable now to com- 

 mence to save some litter from the horse stable and to 

 take care of this under an open shed or in a basement. 

 Give it frequent turnings and moisten with water if too 

 dry and add about a third of its bulk of leaves if these 

 can be gotten handily. The importance of the proper 

 care and preparation of fermenting material for this 

 purpose is most frequently overlooked and leads to much 

 disappointment, for, if not prepared in this way the re- 

 sult is sudden and intense heat and consequently rapid 

 cooling, instead of the steady lasting heat secured by the 

 metliods advocated above. In about ten days to two 

 weeks this material should be in ideal condition and 

 that will be about the right time to get the hot-beds in 

 operation. 



Lenox, Masn. 



