icith hints on Pruning Trees in general. 125 



However simple ths pruning of fruit trees may appear to some 

 persons to be, I still think we have much to learn; trees that 

 have been for a number of years neglected, and left togrowmVrf, 

 should by no means be thinned out so much as appears to be 

 necessary, either the firsts second or third season. A tree ought 

 to be brought into a good shape by degrees, by the cutting out 

 of a small portion only of the useless branches annually: by so 

 doing the tree is hardened gradually, which should be borne in 

 mind to be a very necessary process. The practice of cutting 

 probably one half of the branches from a tree, the first year, 

 cannot be too much deprecated; for by so doing the tree is too 

 suddenly exposed to the hot rays of the sun, which burn or scald 

 the main stems, which may be readily known by their turning 

 black, and the bark blistering and cracking. The frequent prac- 

 tice of not cutting close to the part from whence the branch is 

 taken should never be overlooked; indeed, no person can have 

 the least pretensions of being a pruner of trees who is not al- 

 ready acquainted with this fact. 



By proper attention being paid to the apple orchard annually, 

 there will seldom be any necessity to take off any thing but 

 suckers, and such annual growths as may impede the well doing 

 of the trees. I would by no means recommend the system of 

 dishing an apple tree in the centre, like a bowl, or, in other 

 words, leaving the tree open in the centre. I do not wish to 

 be understood as preferring an apple tree to be formed like a 

 button-wood or Lombardy poplar; on the contrary, I am an ad- 

 vocate for a spreading habit. All I contend for is, the fdllng up 

 of the centre of the tree, as a partial shade from the hot rays of 

 the sun which affect the main branches that ramify ofi' horizontally. 

 I am convinced, from general observation, that the main stems 

 that are naked, in the centre of an apple tree of spreading habit, 

 ought (in this country) to be partially shaded from the direct rays 

 of the sun, more especially if the season is hot and dry. Finally, 

 a medium system of pruning is much the best in this climate: al- 

 lowing trees to grow close and crowded, or to be pruned out 

 very thin and open, are, both, equally objectionable. 



J. W. Russell. 

 Mount Jluburn, March 10</i, 1838. 



[The above remarks of Mr. Russell are founded in truth. 

 American cultivators have been guided altogether too much by 

 English practices. In our climate, where the sun shines not 

 only much more intensely but ten times as much, a tree does 

 not require to be pruned as openly as in England, where everything 

 is done to catch the least ray that glistens. — Ed.] 



