68 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



influence of the sun and air to the undergrowth. 

 But the horizontal and drooping branches are al- 

 ways the most productive of fruit, and this is less 

 liable to be shaken off by the wind, and is more 

 conveniently gathered by hand. Those who culti- 

 vate an orchard for the benefit of the fruit, must 

 make the undergrowth a secondary consideration* 



HEADING DOWN OLD DECAYED APPLE TREES. 



According to Mr. Forsyth, when the tops of the 

 branches of apple trees begin to die from old age 

 or other cause, they ought immediately to be re- 

 generated by giving them a new top. This is done 

 by cutting off a few feet of their extremities over 

 the whole tree, so as to leave it in a proper form. 

 If the trunk is yet tolerably sound, the new 

 branches will grow thriftily, and bear luxuriantly; 

 and if you wish to vary your fruit, the sprouts, 

 after one year's growth, and most frequently the 

 same year, will be fit for inoculating, which suc- 

 ceeds equally well in the old as in the young trees. 

 In heading down old decayed apple trees for the 

 sake of symmetry, it will be necessary to cut at the 

 forked branches as near as can be to the upper 

 side of the fork, cutting them in a sloping mariner to 

 carry off the wet, and at the same time rounding 

 the edges ; and if any of the branches should have 

 the canker, all the infected parts must be cut out. 

 The composition must be immediately applied, to 

 prevent the sun and air from injuring the naked 

 inner bark. This operation should be performed 

 in April or May, and, in the course of the summer, 

 long thrifty shoots will be thrown out ; these 

 should not be shortened the first year, but in the 

 following spring they may be cut to six or eight 

 inches long, according to their strength. In the 

 next spring, after the first branches are headed, the 

 remaining old branches may be cut out, and these 



