CLAENDAR AND INDEX. 147 



FEBRUARY. 



Without 'tis a desert, too bleak for a ram, 

 Within we have one merely Apples and Jam, 

 Preserved for the season, with skill and with care, 

 By the hands of the thrifty, the good, and the fair ! 



As the season for pruning fruit trees and vines com- 

 mences in the various parts of our country at different 

 periods, according to the climate, I would submit a few 

 general remarks on the subject, with a view to prepare the 

 gardener for the performance of the work in a skilful man- 

 ner, and at the proper season ; for be it remembered that 

 untimely or injudicious pruning may produce injury instead 

 of benefit, and in many cases defeat the real object of the 

 operation. 



Having given ample directions for the cultivation of the 

 various species of fruit, I would recommend the novice to 

 peruse every article before he enters upon the work of the 

 garden ; he will there discover that no single rule will apply 

 to every kind of fruit ; first, because the mode of bearing is 

 different in almost every distinct species ; secondly, because 

 the sap rises earlier and continues longer in the branches of 

 some species than in others ; and thirdly, because some 

 trees, as the Plum for instance, is apt to gum, if pruned too 

 soon in the season, and the grape vine to bleed if delayed 

 too long. For the above, and other reasons that may be 

 given, the gardener should examine all his fruit trees fre- 

 quently in this month, with his implements at hand, and if 

 circumstances will not admit of a general pruning, he may 

 cut off dead branches, and clear trees from moss and canker, 

 also search for the nests of insects, and destroy them while 

 in a torpid state. This will assist the natural efforts of the 

 trees, in cashing off the crude and undigested juices, which 

 if confined in them will in a short time destroy them, or 

 some of their branches. 



As soon as the severity of the winter is over, the hardy 



