124 On the Pruning of Jlpph Orchards, 



Art. II. On the Pruning of Apple Orchards, with hints on 

 Pruning Trees in general. By J. W. Russell. 



Sir, — Passing through Brighton and Brookline, to Roxbury, 

 about a fortnight since, I noticed several old orchards of apple 

 trees. One, in particular, in the last mentioned place but 

 one, close to the side of the road, attracted my attention. 

 The trees were promiscuously scattered over a grass-field, 

 and had evidently been the tenants of the soil fifty or sixty 

 years : the pruner was at uork, cutting, apparently, without 

 paying any regard to age or quality; for aged they assuredly 

 were, and, as to the quality of the fruit they bear, no person, I 

 should suppose, could possibly entertain a doubt of its goodness, 

 owing to the situation being not more than five miles from Bos- 

 ton, where there is every chance of obtaining scions from the 

 Horticultural Society's room, from the seed-stores, or from ama- 

 teurs and nurserymen, in the spring of the year, at a cheap rate, 

 — therefore, taking into consideration the ease and facility of 

 procuring scions of the very best sorts of apples, as well as any 

 other kinds of choice fruits, and the trees, from the best of my 

 judgment, not having the slightest appearance of having been 

 grafted or renovated the last twenty years, I concluded that the 

 fruit they produced was of a good quality. 



"What can be the motives of this man," said I to my brother, 

 who accompanied me, " for lopping off those large branches, 

 that look so clean and healthy, and so thickly studded, too, with 

 fruit buds, when all that is really necessary to be done to such 

 old trees is simply to take out the dead wood, and those branch- 

 es that cross and rub against each other, and the summer shoots, 

 that spring from the main stems, in the centre of the trees?" The 

 suckers, that spring from the roots, should be also carefully 

 grubbed up; and the rough bark ought to be scraped from the 

 trunks and stems of the trees, in order to dislodge the eggs of 

 insects which are generally deposited in such places. 



The cutting out of large branches, (from four to six inches 

 diameter,) from trees the age spoken of, is in my humble opinion 

 an unpardonable fault, i. e. if the trees are worthy of remaining in 

 the ground at all. In the first place, by taking off a branch the 

 size just mentioned, the wound will hardly if ever heal over; 

 therefore, if a number of such cuts are made on the same tree, 

 the injury done is irreparable, and finally premature disease and 

 death are the consequence. In the second place, by divesting 

 the tree of its arms, as it were, the protection that it has been 

 wont to have heretofore, in storms and sunshine, is gone, and 

 the poor helpless old tree is buffeted about by every strong 

 wind that blows, to its no little injury. 



