122 THE APPLE CULTUMIST. 



the attack is made. The saw and axe are brought, and in 

 a single hour one-third of the top is cut out. A tree should 

 never, in this sense, need pruning. The difficulty should 

 be avoided, rather than remedied ; so that, instead of fell- 

 ing great branches, the finger and thumb, or at most the 

 pruning-knife, will be sufficient to direct the growth of stal- 

 wart limbs. The direction of a skillful pruner always is 

 to fix in your mind the general form of a perfect tree of 

 the variety you are about to operate upon, and to this ideal, 

 as nearly as possible, train your subject ; not, of course, ar- 

 bitrarily, or in one year, but, by patiently studying the pe- 

 culiarities of your tree, bring it gradually to the desired 

 form. In respect to the shape, fruit-trees may be classified 

 into globular, or round-headed trees, like the apple ; semi- 

 globular 9 or goblet-shaped, as the peach ; and the conical, 

 like the pear and the cherry. It is important that, while 

 we divert Nature from her wonted course to fulfill our es- 

 pecial ends, we do no violence to her principles. Faults 

 there are to be corrected, deficiencies to be supplied, but 

 always obediently to the guidance of nature. There is a 

 typical form, then, for each variety of tree, which should be 

 regarded from the commencement. A pruner must set up 

 before the mind a beau ideal of the form of tree or bush 

 desired. Then, all through the growing season, the buds 

 should be watched closely. If a bud appears where a 

 branch is not desired, pinch it off; and leave buds on the 

 main stem wherever a branch is desired. Grafts from ci- 

 ons that were set last season should be examined frequent- 

 ly, to see if the main stems and lateral branches are all 

 growing uniformly. The pruner must understand the man- 

 ner of growth common to the variety he is about to prune. 

 All apple-trees do not grow alike. Hence, for a pruner to at- 

 tempt to compel a tree having a natural tendency to a certain 

 form to assume another, would be attended with much un- 



