GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS. 159 



supposable case need the pomologist hope to better his pros- 

 pects by the use of a scraping-knife; for, from whatever 

 cause trees cease to increase perceptibly in diameter, out- 

 side appliances can no more impart fresh vigor to them, 

 than the under-fed and over-driven roadster, all of whose 

 bones stick out, can be made sleek and fat by the use of the 

 curry-comb, so long as generous feeding, careful driving, 

 and a good stable are ignored. In the vegetable kingdom, 

 the fitting of means to ends is so close and intimate as not 

 to be safely disturbed ; while, at the same time, they seem to 

 Fig. 67. indicate that the practice we oppose is out of 

 harmony with the plans and purposes of nature. 

 Hence, when we remove the dead bark of an 

 apple-tree, we should first understand what the 

 effect is to be on the tree. We would never 

 scrape or shave off the dead bark without being 

 able to tell how the operation will promote fruit- 

 fulness. So long as a tree continues to yield 

 fair crops of apples, the bark should not be 

 tampered with. Fig. 67 represents a scraper 

 of convenient form, which consists of a trian- 

 gular piece of steel, about three inches from 

 corner to corner, with the edges ground or filed 

 sharp for scraping. A stiff broad hoe may be 

 Tree-scraper, employed instead of such a scraper. 



The editor of the Practical Farmer, Philadelphia, says : 



" Some over-wise people have an idea that when a tree gets mossy and bark- 

 bound the latter but another term for the want of growth and weakness conse- 

 quent upon neglected cultivation it is only necessary to slit the bark up and down 

 the stem with a jacknife, and it will at once spread out and grow. This is sheer 

 nonsense. Dig about and cultivate the roots, and the bark will take care of itself, 

 with a scraping off of the moss, and a washing of the stem with ley or soap-suds, 

 or chamber-slops, which last is quite as good. The increased flow of the sap, in- 

 duced by a liberal feeding of the roots, will do its own bursting of the ' hide- 

 bound ' 'bark, which is simply its enfeebled condition as a consequence of its pov- 

 erty of root. No one thinks of turning out a bony, half-starved calf in the spring, 

 into the clover-field, with the skin on its sides all split through with a knife, in or- 

 der to add to its growth. And this last proposition is quite as sensible and phil- 

 osophical as the other. Nature takes care of itself in these particulars. Sap in 



