AI'IM.K t;Uo\VIN<l IN CAI.IKOKNIA. 



59 



is not quirk 1<> develop buds and throw out new growth from a cut off 

 branch, hence we have a stub without ;my foliage to manufacture the 

 plant food from the crude material taken up by the roots, and while the 

 sap may journey upward for a time through such stubs, there is no 

 downward flow of elaborated sap from the leaves and consequently no 

 healing. Rot t'unun get in their work soon afterwards, drying out takes 

 place, and a tree may he ruined in a very short time. Many an orchard 

 in California has either died outright or become worthless because of 

 the careless leaving of stubs. 



TREATMENT OF WOUNDS. 



Since drying out over the cut surface takes place very rapidly after 

 a hranch has heen removed, it has been the practice to paint over wounds 

 to prevent this drying, thus giving the healing process a better chance 

 to operate. It is probable that the idea of painting has been carried 

 to the extreme and too much dependence has been placed upon it. A 

 hianrh can not heal, as has already been pointed out, unless the cut 

 has been properly made. There has been a tendency among some 

 orchardists to cut without any care whatever, and then paint heavily. 



Fig. 40. A good type of pruning saw. 



expecting the treatment to work the miracle of healing against iriture's 

 way. It probably does not pay at all to treat small cuts, and unless the 

 branch removed is three inches in diameter or more, the time and labor 

 spent in painting would probably be lost. 



When treatment of wounds is thought to be necessary there is nothing 

 better to use than a common lead paint. Certain grades of asphaltum 

 have also been used with success. 



PRUNING TOOLS. 



Much time is .often wasted and sometimes damage done to trees 

 because of the use of poor tools. Practically all the pruning work about 



l-'iir. H A 



i\j,.. .,)' pruning shears. 



an on-hard ean be done with the saw shown in Fig 40 and shears in 

 Ki'_r. 41. The former has a blade which can be inclined at any angle, 

 so that it is possible to cut in almost any kind of a crotch. The blades. 

 \v hen broken, can be easily removed and replaced at small cost, 



