74 QUINCE CULTURE. 



mixing in tar, is found excellent. If too thin to handle 

 conveniently, mix in a little whiting or chalk dusfc. Sal 

 ammoniac or spirits of hartshorn will dissolve the corrosive 

 sublimate more easily than the spirit. It is an insecti- 

 cide, and when a gallon of soft water is used in place of 

 the tar it is a good wash to kill all insects and their eggs 

 on the bark. If nothing better is convenient, a little 

 grease of any kind will have a good effect on the wound. 

 If a limb bleeds when it is cut off, it may be worth 

 while to apply Knight's Composition of four parts scraped 

 cheese with one part of shell lime, or other pure lime, 

 pressing the composition strongly into the pores of 

 the wood. With this he found he could instantly stop 

 the flow of sap in the largest branch. The worst time 

 to prune is when the sap begins to flow actively in the 

 spring. By contact with the air it sours and becomes 

 poison to the bark. We ought not to close this topic 

 without suggesting, that when the smaller limbs and 

 twigs are cut off a good sharp knife is not always the 

 most desirable implement to use. It often slips and 

 injures what is not intended to be cut away. Small 

 limbs can be pruned more rapidly with a good pair of 

 shears. 



CHAPTER XII. 

 PROMOTING FRUITFULNESS WITHOUT PRUNING. 



1. THIS may be done by restricting root growth by 

 pruning or cutting in the roots, as described on a former 

 page, and need not be repeated here. 



2. Bending down strong-growing branches without 

 fruit-buds, has been found to retard the circulation of 

 the sap sufficiently to induce fruitfulness. The pendant 

 form becomes fixed by a single season's growth, and may 

 be so skillfully arranged as to secure symmetrical and 



