MARCH! THE ORCHARD. 237 



" The first time that I tried the composition in a liquid form, was 

 upon an elm which had been planted about twenty years. It had 

 been very much bruised by the roller, had several cavities in it, and 

 was very much bark-bound besides. Having prepared the wounds, 

 and applied the composition with a painter's brush, I took my knife 

 and scarified the tree in four places ; I also shaved off, with a draw- 

 knife, all the cankery outer bark, and covered the whole tree with 

 the composition, shaking the powder of wood-ashes and burnt bones 

 all over it. A very heavy rain began in the evening and continued 

 all night ; yet, to my great surprise, in the morning, I found that 

 only some of the powder, which had not had time to dry and incor- 

 porate with the composition, was washed off. I now repeated the 

 powder, and without anything more being done to the tree, the 

 wounds healed up and the bark was restored so completely, that, 

 three years ago, it could hardly be discerned where the wounds had 

 been. The scarifications had also disappeared. Some of the wounds 

 were thirteen inches long, eight broad, and three deep. Since the 

 time when it was scarified, the tree has increased ten inches more in 

 circumference than a healthy tree planted at the same time with it, 

 about sixteen feet distant, which was not scarified." 



" Melt together in a large earthen pipkin, two pounds and a half 

 of common pitch, and half a pound of common turpentine, then put 

 in three-quarters of an ounce of powder of aloes, stir them all to- 

 gether, and set the matter on fire j when it has flamed a moment, cover 

 it up close and it will go out, then melt it well and fire it again in 

 the same way j this must be repeated three times (in the open air) ; 

 after it has burned the last time melt it again, and put in three 

 ounces of yellow wax, shred very thin ; and six drachms of mastic, 

 in powder ; let it all melt together till perfectly well mixed, then 

 strain it through a coarse cloth, and set it by to cool. 



"When you use this composition, melt a small piece of it, and let 

 it cool till it is just sufficiently soft to spread on the part where 

 wanted, but it must not be laid on very hot." 



When any of your old fruit-trees, which you particularly esteem, 

 appear on the decline, and are grown thin of young wood, you may 

 probably restore them by heading down such limbs as are in a bad 

 state, to those parts where young shoot appear, and dose to the most 

 vigorous; but be careful not to do this generally the same season, 

 for that would give too sudden a check to the sap, and in all proba- 

 bility destroy the tree totally. But if every other branch all over 

 the tree were headed at proper lengths, each close to some young 

 shoot, new healthy wood would be produced, which would soon come 

 into bearing. The next spring after the first branches were headed, 

 the remaining old branches may be cut out, as directed above; after 

 which the head of the tree will be soon filled with bearing wood, which 

 may afterwards be pruned as directed for other trees. This may 

 be practised on either standard, wall, or espalier trees. 



Peaches and nectarines will require to be treated with more cau- 



