368 



SCIENCE OF GARDENING. 



shoot left without a bud (c and e), the consequence is, the stump dies back to the bud in 

 the course of the season (g), and if not carefully cut off (/), will end in a decaying ori- 

 fice both unsightly and injurious. The bud selected for a leader ought always to be a 

 leaf-bud, and in general the plane of the section ought to be parallel to the angle which 

 the bud makes with the stem (d). Exceptions occur in the case of plants with much 

 pith (A), as the vine, elder, &c. in cutting the year-old shoots of which, an inch or more 

 ought to be left, as these always die back a few lines ; and thus the leading bud might 

 be injured, if this precaution were not taken. In like manner, when pruning a large 

 tree, the section of amputation ought to be made so oblique as to throw off the rain ; as 

 generally as possible, it should be turned from the sun, and rather downwards than up- 

 wards, in order to shield it from heat and cracking : and whenever it can be done, it should 

 be made near a branch, shoot, or bud, which may take the lead in the room of that cut off, 

 and thus, by keeping the principle of life in action at the section, speedily heal up the wound. 



1886. In pruning roots, the same principle, as far as applicable, ought to be attended to ; the trunk or 

 stem when cut over ought to be sloped to the north (i), and the lateral roots cut so as the section may be 

 on the under side (/fc), and therefore less likely to rot than when the cut faces the surface of the ground 

 (I), or is bruised by neglecting to form the smooth section on the attached extremity. When roots are 

 large always cut to a lateral, and when they are small to a fibre; for in roots as in shoots, naked extremi- 

 ties always die back to the nearest leader. When a root broken or bruised has neither laterals nor fibres, 

 then merely cut back to sound wood, leaving a smooth section ; for the sap which always operates first 

 and most powerfully at the extremities both of roots and shoots, will there originate fibres. 



1887. In cutting with the chisel, the blade is applied below the branch to be amputated, so as to rest on 

 the trunk or main branch, and so applied, a quick blow with a mallet is applied to the handle of the chisel 

 by the operator or his assistant. If this does not effect a separation, it is to be repeated. In forest-pruning 

 it is often advantageous to apply one cut of the chisel on the underside of the branch, and then saw it 

 through with the forest-saw from the upper. 



1888. Clipping is an imperfect mode of cutting adapted for expedition and for small 

 shoots. The separation is effected by bruising or crushing along with cutting, and, in 

 consequence, both sections are fractured. In gardening it is chiefly applied for keeping 

 hedges and edgings in shape ; but the hedge-knife {Jig. 115.), which operates by clean, 

 rapid, draw-cuts given always from below, is generally preferable, as not decreasing the 

 live ends of the amputated shoots. The new pruning-shears {Jig. 122.), and the 

 averuncator {Jig. 121.), it is to be observed, by producing cuts much more like the draw- 

 cuts of knives, are greatly to be preferred to the common hedge-shears. 



1889. In respect to the seasons Jor saiuing, cutting, or clipping living trees, the best seem 

 early in spring, and in midsummer. Early in autumn, trees are apt to bleed ; later, and 

 in winter, the section is liable to injury from the weather ; but trees pruned early m spring 

 remain only a short period before the wound begins to heal ; and in those pruned at mid- 

 summer wounds heal immediately. There are, however, exceptions as to spring pruning 

 in evergreens, cherries and other gummiferous trees ; and summer pruning is but ill 

 adapted for forest- work or trees in crowded scenery. 



1890. Splitting, as an operation of gardening, is generally performed on roots of trees 

 remaining in the soil, for the purpose of facilitating their eradication. The wedge in its 

 simplest form, and of iron, is driven in by a hammer or mallet, till it produces fracture 

 and separation, when the parts are removed as detached, &c. 



1891. Mowing is performed by the rapid motion of a very sharp wedge across the mat- 

 ters to be cut or mown, and at an oblique angle to them. In gardening it is applied to 

 grassy surfaces, in order, by repeated amputations, to keep the plants short, spreading, 

 and thick, and by always admitting light and air to the roots or stools, to render the sur- 

 face green. This operation requiring great force, and also a twisting motion of the body, 

 brings almost every muscle into action, and is, in fact, one of the most severe in vegetable 

 culture. 



1892. Mowing frojn a boat, is in use for cutting weeds in rivers and ponds. The operator 

 stands in the boat, and is rowed forward by another, as required. Sometimes scythe- 

 blades are tied or rivetted together, and worked by means of ropes like a saw from one 

 shore to the other ; but the first mode is generally reckoned the best, even in public 

 canals, and is unquestionably so in gardening. 



1893. Weeding is the operation of drawing or digging out such plants from any given 



