PRUNING. 



309 



Fig. 260. 



requisite point, by a 

 screw-nut f y passing 

 through different holes 

 made in , at about one 

 inch distance ; g is a c 

 leather strap, fixed at 

 one end to c, and fasten- 

 ed to a by a button A, 

 by suitable holes. Fig. 

 261 is a perspective view 

 of this machine. The 

 bark, after being girdled 

 by the saws, may be 

 taken off with any 

 chisel about three or 

 four inches broad. 



The seasons for pruning vary according to the object in view. 

 "WTiere wood is to be cut out or buds removed, so as to throw strength 

 into the remaining parts of the tree, the sooner the operation is per- 

 formed after the fall of the leaf the better ; because as the sap is 

 more or less in motion, and consequently impelled to all the buds 



Fig. 261. 



Side view of the girdling machine. 



Perspective view of the girdling machine. 



throughout the whole of the winter, that which would have been 

 employed on the shoots and buds cut off is saved, and those which 

 remain are invigorated by it. Next to autumn, winter is to be pre- 

 ferred for the same reason ; but in this season mild weather should 

 always be chosen, because the frost, if severe, will seize on the 

 moisture of newly -made wounds, and rupture their surface. In 

 pruning forest trees, large branches should never be cut off in autumn, 

 because as they cannot heal over till the following summer, decay 

 will commence on the surface of the wound. Spring, just before the 

 rising of the sap, is a better season ; but better still, a fortnight before 

 midsummer, at which period the returning sap will commence to 

 deposit a coat of alburnum on the lips of the wound. The worst 



