HORTICULTURE 77 



duction of water sprouts or suckers which are worthless, as a rule, 

 and should be removed. These difficulties can be almost entirely 

 overcome by practicing annual pruning. 



Wounds, Their Making and Treatment. Neglect or improper 

 making of wounds frequently result in serious injury or even prema- 

 ture destruction of the tree. Neglect in pruning is usually accom- 

 panied by carelessness in making and neglect in caring for the 

 wounds. Just the reverse should be true for the wounds will be 

 larger and if they are to heal, the utmost care should be taken in 

 these respects. 



In pruning young trees or where thorough annual pruning is 

 practiced a strong knife and small hand shears are all the tools mat 

 are necessary until the tree reaches the height where a pole pruner 

 will be needed for heading-in the top branches. On newly set trees, 

 a strong knife is more desirable than the hand shears because the 

 branches can be cut off nearer the trunk. By cutting from below 

 upward toward the trunk or branch to which it is attached, quite 

 large branches may be removed without difficulty. Care should be 

 taken as the branch is nearly severed that the knife does not come 

 through suddenly and injure other branches which are to be left. 

 In removing branches with the pruning shears, put the blade next 

 to the trunk or main branch and press the branch to be removed away 

 from the blade. 



Removal of large branches is a more difficult proposition as 

 there is danger of the branch breaking down and splitting into a 

 ragged wound, or pulling off large areas of bark. To avoid this, 

 double sawing is usually desirable. It consists in cutting the branch 

 off some little distance from the trunk or main branch, and then 

 removing the stub. In the first sawing, it is well to saw one-third to 

 one-half through the branch from the under side, then finish the 

 sawing from above. The upper cut should be made slightly farther 

 back from the trunk than the under. This method overcomes split- 

 ting back. For removing large branches a pruning saw is desirable, 

 of which there are a very great many forms on the market. The ax 

 should never be used. 



All branches should be cut off as near the branch or trunk to 

 which they are attached as possible, and the cut should be made 

 parallel to the part from which removed. While this makes a some- 

 what larger wound, it will heal more readily than a small wound 

 made in any other way. Stubs are monuments to the ignorance of 

 the pruner, unless one-year-old growth left for the production of fruit 

 spurs. On older wood they are valueless, seldom heal over, and be- 

 come sources of infection and decay. 



Care should be taken to have the surface of the wound smooth. 

 Rough or splintered wounds heal slowly and the longer the time re- 

 quired in healing, the greater the danger from infection. If the 

 bark has been torn around the edges of the wound, the uneven edges 

 should be cut back to sound bark. Sharp tools are necessary for good 

 work. The knife, pruning shears, and saw usually make good 

 wounds with ordinary care,, but dull tools should always be avoided. 



