456 



SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Paut II. 



2916. Every draw-cut produces a smooth section, and a fractured or bruised section ; and one essential 

 part of cutting living vegetables, is to take care that the fractured section be on the part amputated. 

 Another desirable object is, that the section of the living or remaining part should be so inclined {fig. 

 412 a.), as not to lodge water or overflowing sap, and so far turned to the ground (</), or to the nortli, as 



not to be struck by the direct rays of the sun. To accomplish both these purposes, as well as to make 

 sure of having the fractured section on the part amputated, the general practice is to cut from below, or 

 from the under edge of the branch or shoot, unless the position of the leading bud occasions a deviation 

 from the rule (6). The cuts should also be made, in all shoots of not more than three or four years old, 

 within from one-fourth to half an inch, or a little more, of the bud intended to take the lead ; when this 

 is not done, and half an inch or more of shoot is left without a bud (c and c), the consequence is, the stump 

 dies back to the bud in the course of the season (g), and if not carefully cut off'(/), will end in a decaying 

 orifice both unsightly and injurious. The bud selected for a leader ought always to be a leaf-bud, and in 

 general the plane of the section ought to be parallel to the angle which the bud makes with the stem {d). 

 Exceptions occur in the case of plants with much pith {h), as the vine, elder, &c. in cutting the year-old 

 shoots of which, an inch or more ought to be left, as these always die back a few lines ; and thus the leading 

 bud might be injured, if this precaution were not taken. In pruning roots, the same principle, as far as 

 applicable, ought to be attended to ; the trunk or stem when cut over ought to be sloped to the north (), 

 and the lateral roots cut so as the section may be on the under side {k), and therefore less likely to rot than 

 when the cut faces the surface of the ground (Z), or is bruised by neglecting to form the smooth section on 

 the attached extremity. 



2917. In like manner, when pruning a large tree, the section of amputation ought to be made so oblique 

 as to throw off the rain ; as generally as possible, it should be turned from the sun, and rather downwards 

 than upwards, in order to shield it from heat and cracking ; and whenever it can be done, it should be 

 made near a branch, shoot, or bud, which may take the lead in the room of that cut off, and thus, by 

 keeping the principle of life in action at the section, speedily heal up the wound. 



2918. In cutting with the chisel, the blade is applied below the branch to be amputated, so as to rest on 

 the trunk or main branch, and so applied, a quick blow with a mallet is given to the handle of the chisel 

 by the operator or his assistant. If this does not effect a separation, it is to be repeated. In forest-pruning 

 it is often advantageous to apply one cut of the chisel on the underside of the branch, and then saw it 

 through with the forest-saw from the upper. 



2919. Clipping is an imperfect mode of cutting adapted for expedition, and for small 

 shoots. The separation is effected by bruising or crushing along with cutting, and, in 

 consequence, both sections are fractured. In agriculture, it is chiefly applied for keep- 

 ing hedges in shape ; but the hedge-knife, which operates by clean, rapid draw-cuts 

 given always from below, is generally preferable, as not decreasing the live ends of the 

 amputated shoots. The new pruning-shears and the averuncator, it is to be observed, 

 by producing cuts much more like the draw-cuts of knives, are greatly to be preferred 

 to the common hedge-shears. 



2920. The best seasons for sawing, cuttingy or clipping living trees are early irf spring, 

 and in midsummer. Early in autumn, trees are apt to bleed ; later, and in winter, the 

 section is liable to injury from the weather; but trees pruned early in spring remain 

 only a short period before they begin to heal ; and in those pruned at midsummer, 

 wounds heal immediately. There are, however, exceptions as to spring-pruning in ever- 

 greens, cherries, and other gummiferous trees ; and summer- pruning is but ill adapted for 

 forest work or trees in crowded scenery. 



2921. Splittingis an operation generally performed on roots of trees remaining in the 

 soil for the purpose of facihtating their eradication. The wedge, in its simplest form, 

 and of iron, is driven in by a hammer or mallet, till it produces fracture and separation, 

 when the parts are removed as detached, &c. 



2922. Pruning, or the amputation of part of a plant with the knife, or other instru- 

 ment, is practised for various purposes, but chiefly on trees, and more especially on those 

 of the fruit-bearing kinds. Of two adjoining and equal sized branches of the same tree, 

 if the one be cut off, that remaining will profit by the sap whicli would have nourished the 

 other, and both the leaves and the fruits which it may produce will exceed their natural 

 size. If part of a branch be cut off which would have carried a number of fruits, those 

 wliich remain will set, or fix better, and become larger. On the observation of these 

 facts is founded the whole theory of pruning ; which though like many other practices of 

 culture, cannot be said to exist very obviously in nature, is yet the most essential of all 

 operations for the culture of fruit produced on trees. 



2923. The objects of pruning may be reduced to the following : promoting growth and bulk ; lessening 

 bulk ; modifying form ; adjusting the stem and branches to the roots ; renewal of decayed plants or trees ; 

 and removal or cure of diseases. 



2924. Pruning for promoting the growth and bulk of a tree, is the simplest object of pruning, and is that 

 chiefly which is cmployetl by nursery-men with young trees of every description. The art is to cut off all 



