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leaves the top too open in some places and as thick as ever 

 in others. Still another point which one should bear in mind 

 in his pruning is to keep a sharp watch for diseased branches, 

 and take these out in preference to healthy ones. The Euro- 

 pean and some other cankers are, in particular, liable to 

 be found in such an .orchard, and may be largely held in 

 check by such pruning. And lastly, after the pruning has 

 been done, and the wounds made have had time to dry up and 

 " check " somewhat, all wounds of an inch and a half or over 

 should be thoroughly painted with thick lead paint, to keep 

 out moisture and prevent decay. White lead and boiled lin- 

 seed oil make the best kind of covering for such wounds, but 

 it is well to add a little brown color, merely to take off the 

 glaring whiteness of the painted wounds. One frequently 

 sees the advice to take the paint pot into the tree when prun- 

 ing, and attend to the painting at once, when the limb is 

 removed, but in the writer's experience the pruning tools are 

 all that one wants to be bothered with at one time, and the 

 paint will certainly adhere better to the cut surface when this 

 has dried somewhat. 



Our thirdly is the spraying problem. This is going to 

 vary somewhat, according to the insect and fungous diseases 

 which may be present in the orchard or locality. If the San 

 Jose scale is there a thorough spraying with oil in the au- 

 tumn, after the leaves have fallen, and with lime-sulfur just 

 before the budS swell in the spring, will be found to be the 

 most efficacious treatment. Where one does not have too bad 

 an infestation of scale, in the writer's observation the best 

 thing to use is the lime-sulfur, and one has the satisfaction of 

 knowing that while he is driving this pest out of his planta- 

 tion he is also most effectively reducing the vigor of a num- 

 ber of fungous diseases, which might have caused trouble 

 later in the season. In this connection (fighting insects and 

 fungi) one is frequently asked as to the desirability of scrap- 

 ing the trees to remove the rough, scaly bark. While this 

 ought not to be necessary as a regular practice in orchards 

 which are cared for, and especially in those which are 

 sprayed, yet in the beginning I believe it is an excellent treat- 



