PRUNING OF FRUIT-TREES. 115 



but if the wound is large, so as to require several seasons be- 

 fore it can heal entirely, it will be better to apply the eompost, 

 whether it be pruned in March or later. 



Third error consists in the habit of encouraging luxuriant 

 upright branches, to the great injury of the natural horizontal 

 fruit-bearing branches ; these are very properly called glutton 

 branches, because they consume the sap which would other- 

 wise go into the lateral and fruit-bearing branches, and in the 

 course of a few years, they leave the fruit branches decaying 

 and decayed ; the farmer then resorts to his axe, cuts away 

 the dead 'and dying wood, and leaves the glutton in full pos- 

 session of all the nourishment which the rcots afford ; but in 

 return this voracious member of the orchard gives no fruit 

 until many years, and then it is of an inferior quality. 



To prevent this, the cultivator should suppress ail the stiff, 

 upright shoots, the first year they appear, by cutting them off 

 down to the branch from which they issue : taking care not to 

 leave the shoulder of the shoot, as he will in such case have 

 the same duty to perform again ; but if the shoulder of the 

 glutton be cut away, the sap will be distributed among the 

 lateral fruit-bearing branches, which will be kept in vigor, and 

 continue in a healthful bearing state. 



The compost best suited to cover the wounds of all trees, is 

 a composition of tar, beeswax, and red ochre, boiled and sim- 

 mered for half an hoar or twenty minutes together. The pro- 

 portion recommended, is a pint of tar, and a piece of beeswax as 

 big as an English walnut. When these are incorporated, 

 scatter a small quantity of pulverized red ochre, say halfagill^ 

 and stir them well togethe:^ while boiling hot, or simmering. 

 When this compost is cool, it should be stiff enough to resist 

 the heat of the sun sufficiently to prevent its running, and yet 

 soft enough to be applied to the wound with a small, flat, smooth 

 stick ; it will last two years without renewing ; it yields to the 

 sap as it issues from under the bark round the wound to cover 

 it, while it continues to protect both the wood and the edge of 

 the bark from water, and of course from decay. 



To prevent the decline of fruit trees, washing and rubbing 

 their bodies v;ith soft soap has been used with success, on ap- 

 ple trees, pear trees and peach trees. It is used in the spring, 

 and repeated the followmg years as often as the trees seem to 

 require it. It is also recommended to whitewash the bodies of 

 fruit trees in the spring with a mixture of lime and water. 



The following composition for curing defects in trees, and 

 restoring old decayed ones, is recommended by Mr. Forsyth^ 

 as being very efficacious. 



