PRUNES 



PRUSSIA 



461 



popularly known as Self-heal, a plant very frequent 

 in moist and barren pastures, as it is also throughout 

 most parts of Europe, central Asia, North America, 

 and New Holland. It was at one time in consider- 

 able repute as a febrifuge. It is mildly aromatic 

 and slightly astringent. 



Prunes are dried fruit of the plum-tree (Primus 

 domettica), of the variety called Juliana, largely 

 prepared in France, and exported thence. Great 

 numbers come also from Bosnia and Servia. 



Pruning, the removal of branches from fruit 

 or forest trees, in order to the greater production 

 of fruit, the improvement of the timber, or purposes 

 of ornament. In pruning for ornamental purposes 

 taste must chiefly be consulted, but reference must be 

 made to what has been too little regarded in pruning 

 of every kind the nature or habit of the tree itself. 

 .Some trees will bear clipping into fantastic forms, 

 which would be utterly destructive of others. Such 

 forms, once esteemed as the finest ornaments of a 

 pleasure-ground, or the neighbourhood of a man- 

 sion, are rejected by the simpler taste of the present 

 age, and the ' topiarian art' has few admirers. Much 

 may be done, however, by the removal of branches 

 to give a finer form to ornamental trees ; but in 

 this, as in the pruning of trees grown for the sake 

 of their timber, a great mistake is very generally 

 committed in permitting blanches to grow to a 

 considerable size before they are cut on. It may 

 be accepted as a general rule that the branches 

 removed should be small in proportion to the bulk 

 of the trunk. The removal of twigs and small 

 branches is attended by no bad effects, and may be 

 lieneficial ; but the removal of large branches is 

 dangerous. The leaving of stumps or snags is an 

 aggravation of the evil. They rot away and spoil 

 the timber of the stem ; indeed, a hole is not un- 

 frequently formed, which may eventually lead to 

 the rotting of the whole of the interior of the trunk 

 of the largest oak. But in the case of forest 

 trees pruning may with advantage l>e in great part 

 avoided, by taking care to plant at proper distances, 

 and thinning out the plantations sufficiently in early 

 periods of their growth. In this way better timber 

 is obtained and a greater produce from the land. 

 Pines and firs scarcely ever require pruning, and are 

 probably in almost all cases the worse of that which 

 they get, except in the removal of those lower 

 branches which have actually begun to decay. In 

 other trees it is sometimes of importance to watch 

 for branches that would divide the trunk, and to 

 prevent the division, causing the main stem to 

 ascend higher before it forms a crown ; but to l>e 

 of any use this must be done whilst the branches 

 are still very young. Plantations should therefore 

 be examined with a view to pruning, at intervals 

 of not more than two years, after they are six or 

 fight years old. 



In orchards ami fruit-gardens pruning is neces- 

 sary, the object Ijeing not to produce tiniW, or the 

 utmost luxuriance of trees, but fruit in the greatest 

 perfection and abundance. The habits of each kind 

 must be studied. Even in the pruning of goose- 

 berry and currant bushes regard must be had to 

 natiiral diversities, the gooseberry and black-cur- 

 rant producing fruit chiefly on young wood, whilst 

 the red and white currant produce fruit chiefly on 

 spurs from older branches. And so it is amongst 

 trees ; apricots, for example, producing fruit chiefly 

 on young wood, cherries mostly on spurs, whilst 

 plums produce both in the one way and in the other. 

 The object of the gardener in pruning is to bring 

 the tree into the condition best suited for producing 

 fine fruit and in the greatest abundance ; and to 

 this the training of wall trees must also be 

 accommodated. Sometimes, in order to produce 

 particularly fine fruits for the improvement of the 



variety by seed, or for the sake of a prize at a 

 lorticultural exhibition, the gardener diminishes 

 the number of branches likely to bear fruit beyond 

 what would otherwise be desirable. 



The general seasons of pruning are winter and 

 spring ; but some trees, particularly cherries and 

 all other drupaceous fruit trees, are advantage- 

 ously pruned m summer, as they then throw out 

 "ess gum. 



Pruning instruments are of various kinds knives, 

 axes, saws, bills of very various forms, &c. ; and the 

 averruncator, which may be described as a pair of 

 scissors, one blade hooked or crooked, attached to 

 i long handle, and working by a cord and pulley. 

 It is scarcely used except for standard trees in 

 gardens and orchards. 



PrurigO is the name applied to a group of 

 diseases of the skin, characterised by the presence 

 of papules, scarcely distinguishable in colour from 

 the normal skin, and so 'felt rather than seen,' 

 accompanied by intense itching. One form of the 

 disease, prurigo genilis, is met with in old people 

 in consequence of the irritation caused by lice, and 

 disappear when these are got rid of. In its most 

 characteristic form, however, it almost always 

 begins in childhood, and may persist through life : 

 even when it is got rid of for a time it is very apt 

 to recur. It chiefly affects the trunk and extensor 

 surfaces of the limbs, and is worst in winter. The 

 disease is aggravated by the scratching from which 

 the sufferer cannot refrain, and the sldn becomes 

 thickened and often eczematous as well. Warm 

 baths and soothing ointments externally, good 

 feeding, cod-liver oil, and arsenic or quinine are 

 generally found to give great relief, and often cure 

 the disease entirely. 



Prussia (Ger. Preussen), by far the largest 

 and most important state -in the German empire, 

 is a kingdom embracing nearly the whole of 

 northern Germany. It is bounded N. by the 

 German Ocean, Jutland, and the Baltic ; E. 

 by Russia (and Russian Poland); S. by Austria, 

 Saxony, the Thuringian states, Bavaria, Hesse- 

 Darmstadt, and Alsace-Lorraine; \V. by Luxem- 

 bourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Prussia 

 owns besides Holienzolleni (q.v.)and about thirteen 

 other smaller exclaves or detached territories 

 lying within the bounds of other German states. 

 The total area is 136,000 q. m., with (1895) 

 31,855,123 inhabitants -i.e. nearly two-thirds of 

 the entire German empire, with about three-fifths 

 of the population, equal to about one and one-tenth 

 the si/e of the United Kingdom, or one-half of the 

 state of Texas. The frontier line has a circum- 

 ference of 4720 miles, of which 1025 miles are 

 coast-line (770 miles on the Baltic, 255 miles on 

 the German Ocean). The following are the pro- 

 vinces into which Prussia is divided : 



Area In nq. m. 



...14,446 

 ... 9.9B4 

 25 



Pop. In 1880. 



Pop. In 1895. 

 2,008,689 

 1,404,360 

 1,667,804 

 2,821,696 

 1,574,147 

 1,828,658 

 4,415,309 

 2,698,649 



1,286,416 



2,422,020 

 2,701,420 

 1,756,802 

 6,106,002 

 65,752 



Total.... 136.075J 27,279,111 81,866,128 



Omitting Berlin and Heligoland, the density of 

 population ranges between 131 (Pomerania) and 

 452 (Rhenish Prussia) per sq. m. About one-fifth 

 of the present area of Prussia has been acquired 



East Prussia. 

 West Prussia. 

 Berlin (city). 



Brandenburg 15,560 



Pomerania 11,762 



Posen 11,311 



Silesia 15,748 



Saxony 9,863 



Slexwick-Holstein.. 7,300 



Heligoland } 



Hanover 15,031 



Westphalia 7,892 



Hesne-Nassau 6,128 



Rhenish Prussia.. .10,543 

 Hohenzollern 447 



1,405,898 

 1,122,330 

 2,266,825 

 1,540,034 

 1,703.397 

 4,007,925 

 2,312,007 

 1,127,149) 



2,120.168 

 2,043,442 

 1,654,376 

 4,074,000 

 67,624 



