408 



PRU 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PRU 



rines generally produce their fruit upon the former year's 

 wood, they must have their branches shortened according 

 to their strength, in order to produce new shoots for the 

 succeeding year: so Pears, Apples, Plums, and Cherries, on 

 the contrary, producing their fruit upon cursons or spurs 

 which come out of the wood of five, six, or seven years old 

 should pot be shortened, because that would cause those 

 buds which were naturally disposed to form these cursons 

 or spurs to produce wood-branches, so that the trees wouk 

 be filled with wood without producing much fruit : and as 

 it often happens that the blossom-buds are first produced at 

 the extremity of the last year's shoot, by shortening their 

 oranches the blossoms are cut away ; and that should always 

 be carefully avoided. There are several authors who have 

 written upon the subject of pruning in such a prolix manner 

 that it is impossible for a learner to understand their meaning, 

 They have described the several sorts of branches which are 

 produced on fruit-trees, under the heads of wood-branches 

 fruit-branches, irregular branches, false branches, and luxu- 

 riant branches ; all of which they assert every person who 

 pretends to pruning should distinguish well. Now all this 

 consists merely in a parcel of words to amuse the reader ; for 

 if in the spring of each year proper care be taken to displace 

 the useless branches, as above directed, there will no sucl: 

 things as are termed irregular, false, or luxuriant branches, 

 remain for winter pruning. The following general hints for 

 the pruning standard fruit-trees are far more useful than these 

 artificial distinctions. First, never shorten the branches ol 

 these trees, except where they grow irregularly on one side 

 of the tree, while the other side becomes comparatively bare 

 of branches, or those that appear are very weak. In this 

 case the branch should be shortened down as low as is neces- 

 sary, in order to obtain more branches to fill up the hollow 

 of the trees. This however is only applicable to Apple and 

 Pear trees, which will produce shoots from wood of three, 

 four, or more years old ; whereas most sorts of stone-fruit 

 will gum and decay after such amputations. I would not 

 be understood, says Mr. Miller, to direct the reducing of these 

 trees into an exact spherical figure, since there is nothing 

 more detestable than to see a tree prevented from growing 

 as it is naturally disposed, with its branches produced at 

 proportionable distances according to the size of the tree, 

 by endeavouring to make it exactly regular at its head, so 

 crowded with small weak branches, as to prevent the air 

 from passing between them. All that I intend by this stop- 

 ping of luxuriant branches, is only when one or two such 

 happen on a young tree, where they entirely draw all their 

 sap from their weaker branches ; then it is proper to use this 

 method, before the roots are wholly exhausted. Whenever 

 this occurs to stone-fruit, which suffers much more than the 

 former sorts by cutting, the evil should be remedied by 

 stopping or pinching those shoots in the spring, before they 

 have obtained too much vigour, which would cause them to 

 put out side-branches, and divert the sap from ascending 

 too fast to the leading branch, as has been directed for wall 

 trees ; but this must be done with caution. You must also 

 cut off all dead or decayed branches, which cause their 

 heads to look very ragged, especially at the time when the 

 leaves are upon the tree; these being destitute of them, 

 have but a despicable appearance ; besides, these will attract 

 noxious particles from the air, which being injurious to the 

 trees, the sooner they are cut out the better. In doing of 

 this, you should observe to cut them close down to the place 

 where they were produced, otherwise that part of the branch 

 left will decay, and prove equally hurtful to the tree : for it 

 seldom happens when a branch begins to decay, that it does 



not die quite down to the place where it was produced ; and 

 any part being permitted to remain long uncut, does often 

 infect some of the other parts of the tree. If large branches 

 are cut off, it will be very proper, after having smoothed the 

 cut part exactly even with a knife or chisel, to put on a plaster 

 of grafting clay, which will prevent the wet from soaking 

 into the tree at the wounded part. All such branches aa 

 run across each other should also be cut out, for these not 

 only occasion a confusion in the head of the tree, but, by 

 lying over each other, rub off the bark by their motion, ancl 

 very often occasion them to canker, to the great injury of th^ 

 tree : and on old trees, especially Apple, there are often 

 young vigorous shoots from the old branches near the trunk, 

 which grow upright into the head of the trees. These there- 

 fore should be carefully cut out every year, lest, by being 

 permitted to grow, they fill the tree too full of wood ;" which 

 should always be guarded against, since it is impossible for 

 such trees to produce so much good fruit as those, the 

 branches of which growing at a farther distance, the sun 

 and air freely pass between them. 



Prunus ; a genus of the class Icosandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth inferior, one- 

 leafed, bell-shaped, five-cleft, deciduous; segments blunt, 

 concave. Corolla: petals five, roundish, concave, large, 

 spreading, inserted into the calix by claws. Stamina: fila- 

 menta twenty to thirty, awl-shaped, almost the length of the 

 corolla, inserted into the calix ; antheree twin, short. Pistil: 

 germen roundish ; style filiform, the length of the stamina ; 

 stigma orbicular'. Pericarp: drupe roundish. Seed: nut 

 roundish, compressed, with sutures a little prominent. ES- 

 SENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-cleft, inferior. Petals: 



five. Drupe : with a nut, having the sutures prominent. 



The species are, 



1. Prunus Padus; Common Bird Cherry Tree. Flowers 

 in pendulous racemes ; leaves deciduous, biglandular at the 

 base. This shrub or small tree rises to the height of eight 

 or ten feet, and if permitted to stand, will have a trunk of 

 nine or ten inches in diameter ; with round and smooth 

 branches ; leaves alternate, rather glaucous, smelling like 

 Rue; clusters on the newest branches, pendent, composed 

 of numerous snow-white blossoms; fruit oval, dark purple 

 or black, bitter. The scent of the flowers is very strong 

 and disagreeable to most persons. This tree is not only 

 called Bird Cherry, but Fowl Cherry, Wild Cluster Cherry, 

 and, in Scotland, Hagberry. Every part of this shrub, except 

 the fruit, is highly poisonous. The fruit is nauseous, but, 

 bruised and infused in wine or brandy, it gives them an 

 agreeable flavour. A strong decoction of the bark is used 

 by the poor Finlanders in the venereal disease. Mr. Broer- 

 land, in the Stockholm Acts, directs six ounces of the dry, or 

 eight of the fresh bark, to be boiled away in eight pints of 

 water to four. The dose of this decoction is four ounces, 

 taken four times daily. It cures the slighter infections 

 alone, and, combined with mercury, facilitates the cure in the 

 severer stages of the disease. A decoction of the berries is 

 sometimes given with success in the dysentery. The wood 

 jeing smooth and tough, is made into handles for knives 

 and whips. Birds are very fond of the nauseous berries, 

 and hence several of its names. Native of most parts of 

 Europe, in woods and hedges; also in the northern and tem- 

 perate parts of Russia, and throughout Siberia. It is com- 

 non in the north of England, as about Ingleborough in 

 Yorkshire ; in woods by the river Tees ; at Pendeford in 

 Staffordshire; a few miles north of Manchester; in some 

 >arts of Norfolk, as about Walton and Dereham ; in a lane 

 >etween Temple mills and Epping Forest; and frequently 



