PRUNING 73 



out by thumb and fingers ; or when heavier growths 

 are to be removed, as in summer pruning of peach 

 trees or Japanese plums, the operator can, by pro- 



FIG. 34 HAND SHEARS 



tecting himself with a pair of stout canvas gloves, 

 break out the soft shoots very rapidly and yet 

 do an excellent sort of work. It hardly needs to 



FIG. .>.> TWO-HAND SHEARS 



be remarked that this kind of pruning is the fastest 

 and by far the cheapest sort that can be done. 

 The shears. The hand pruning shears are, all things 



FIG. 36 POCKET PRUNING KNIFE 



considered, the most useful of all pruning tools. 

 (See Figure 34.) Shears of medium weight are 

 best for general purposes, though if the fruit grower 



