86 ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. 



It may be said, " If nature prunes at all, let her 

 do it all." Yes, and it may be said, " If nature 

 plants and grows the corn at all, why should I take 

 the trouble to plant and cultivate?" But such a 

 man will reap little more than the harvest of his 

 folly and indolence. Nature makes suggestions, 

 but does not propose to do all the work where 

 man's interest is especially concerned. Even be- 

 fore thorns and briers had sprung up, it was man's 

 duty and to his interest to ' ' dress the garden' ' so 

 perfectly planted. Again, where nature prunes; 

 knots and dead wood often become the starting 

 points for extensive decay. But where a living 

 branch is cut off with a sharp knife from a vigor- 

 ous tree, the wound soon heals over, leaving no scar 

 nor injury. 



The writer has practised on a grove of about 4000 

 trees all the methods of pruning, and not pruning, 

 to satisfy himself as to the best method. Nor has 

 he spared himself the trouble of visiting many of 

 the best groves in the State, watching the opera- 

 tions of others, and questioning them closely as to 

 their practice and the results. He will not trouble 

 the reader with the many theories advanced, much 

 less with discussing them. A few essential points 

 are all that are necessary to be attended to. 



In pruning, the sharper the knife or saw, the bet- 

 ter. Let the cut be clean and smooth. When the 

 knife is used it is better to cut up than down, as 

 the downward cut is apt to split the wood and peel 



