128 THE APPLE CULTURIST. 



around the branch. The place to sever a branch, there- 

 fore, is close to the ring around the stub at A. Then the 

 wound will heal much sooner than if the ring were re- 

 moved, making the cut smooth with the body of the tree. 

 Many tree -.murderers often cut off limbs several inches 

 from the main stem. This is the true and effectual way to 

 make trees decay at the heart. This illustration (Fig. 57) 



will elucidate that point with suf- 



Fig. 57. 



ficient clearness to enable a pruner 

 to see at a glance what most prun- 

 ers have never thought of. If a 

 tree has been properly pruned, 

 there will be no occasion for cut- 

 ting off large branches, except in 

 rare instances. In case branches 

 should be injured in any way, so 

 that it would appear necessary to 

 cut off the limb close to the body 

 of the tree, the cultivator should 

 know exactly where the right 

 place is. A limb as large as a 

 HOW to bolt a forked tree : where man's arm or leg may be sawed 



to cut off branches. ..i -, i 



off a large tree, and the wound 



heal over readily, provided a clear and smooth cut be made, 

 as indicated, and the surface be covered with a heavy coat 

 of grafting-wax, and the wax covered with a piece of strong 

 paper, as previously directed. 



Some pruners have recommended, when taking off large 

 limbs, not to make the cut parallel with the stem, but start 

 the knife on the lower side of the branch, a little up from 

 the base of it, and bring it out on the upper side exactly 

 where the branch parts from the stem, so that the cut, when 

 made, will form, measured down the trunk, an angle with it 

 of 65 or 70 degrees. If a branch is cut off smooth, parallel 



