438 Hints on Pi'un'mg. 



soil ; for, as the fibres of the leaves are connected with the 

 wood of the stem, so the green portion of the leaves are con- 

 nected with its bark, and by this, part of the juices of the 

 tree are acted upon by the elements of the atmosphere. The 

 green part of the leaf may thus be termed the laboratory of 

 the tree ; there, the materials for future fruit buds and flow- 

 ers are separated from the sap; there, the woody fibre is 

 formed and prepared for the next year's layer ; and, as the 

 superfluous, unassimilated sap descends, it is deposited be- 

 neath the inner bark, and forms what we call the annual 

 ring or layer of wood. 



Now. if we will give these considerations their due weight, 

 I think we will pause a little before we apply the pruning 

 knife, either to the root or branch of a fruit tree, and ask our- 

 selves the question. How can we best assist nature in main- 

 taining this reciprocal activity, so that a due amount of sap 

 may be assimilated and concentrated for the production of 

 fibre and fruit? 



I believe it will be admitted, that when a tree is growing 

 quick and luxuriant, there is less concentration of sap by the 

 leaves, than when the young shoots are less vascular and 

 more woody. More water is absorbed by the roots, because 

 more is demanded by the leaves to form young shoots, and 

 to supply the loss by excessive natural perspiration, as well 

 as mechanical evaporation. The absorbing roots are forced 

 into an unnatural state of activity, which continues long 

 after the leaves have ceased to perform their functions, and 

 when they no longer demand the supply. Hence, the break- 

 ing of the buds in autumn, the bursting of the bark in winter, 

 and the growth of late shoots, which never ripen. 



The general panacea for these evils, is to prune, i. e. to cut 

 off a certain quantity of branches from the tree, in winter — 

 very frequently the lower ones are taken away, and the stem 

 is left bare. The exterior sap vessels are thus exposed, with- 

 out shade or shelter, to the influence of the burning sun in 

 summer, the rays of which, by reflection, frequently rise to 

 120° Fah., a fertile source of what is termed sun blight : and 

 more, those branches are taken off" which alone were ca- 

 pable of modifying the current of ascending sap in its up- 

 ward course; by drawing it off" into the lateral branches. I 



