OP FRUIT TREES. 65 



tenness, and, in course of time, the limb or trunk 

 becomes hollow, frequently to the roots. In prun- 

 -ing, some regard must be had to soil and climate, 

 If the situation be wet and cold, trees should be 

 pruned more open for the benefit of sun and air, 

 which are less essential in a dry sandy soil, where 

 the fruit ripens better. Winter fruit trees should 

 have their branches left wider asunder than sum- 

 mer fruit, as they require more warmtn of the 

 sun than the latter. The general shape .of old 

 trees should be left substantially the same, that the 

 ascending juices may continue, as much as possible, 

 in their established channels. Care must be taken 

 not to cut away too many large limbs at a time, lest 

 too large a portion of the sap should remain inac- 

 tive, and thus occasion mischief. Always prune at 

 a fork, arid remove the lower branch, that the 

 wound may be on the lower side rather than the 

 upper side. All large limbs should be cut first at 

 some distance from the place where they are 

 to be pruned, as the weight may peel the bark, 

 and leave a bad wound ; and in order to prevent 

 the same accident, the bark, on the under side, 

 should be cut through before the limb is amputat- 

 ed. In every instance, after sawing off the branch, 

 let the bark and edges of the stump be pared close 

 and smooth with a sharp knife, and irnmediatly ap- 

 ply the composition so as to cover the whole sur- 

 face of the wound. This is more especially neces- 

 sary when the operation is performed in a cold 

 season, before the sap is in circulation. By this 

 procedure the new growth or healing process im- 

 mediately commences, and instead of an unseemly 

 rotten cavity, as in the old method, the wound will, 

 during the season, if not large, be completely heal- 

 ed over, and the tree remain sound and flourishing. 

 It is to be observed, that the fruit of the apple 

 tree is produced on short, thick, side, or terminal 

 shoots or spurs, from one to two or three inches 

 9 



