P R U 



P R U 



cacli sort <if tree has been shown under the proper 

 head to which it belongs. 



Pruitiiig hu [dements. — For the purpose of ge- 

 neral [)riming, several implements are necessary, 

 such as pruning-knives, saws, chisels, hand- 

 bills, hatchets, &c. Two or three different 

 sizes of knives are requisite, in order to prune 

 neatly; a .strong one for cutting out larger 

 branches, shoots, &c., and a smati one for the 



more exact pruning: anionc; the smaller branches 



11 ■ 1 



and shoots of peach and nectarine trees, &c. 



I'bese knives are generally made curving at the 

 pomt, and they should not be too lone:, broad, 

 and clumsy, but have rather a shortish narrow 

 blade, and but very moderately hooked at the 

 point, for when too crooked thev are apt to hang 

 lu the wood, and not cu clean ; it is also proper 

 to 1m; furnished with a strong ihick-backed knife, 

 to use by way of a chisel occasionally, in cut- 

 ting oat any hard stubborn stumps, Sec, placing 

 the edge on the wood, and with vour nailing 

 hannner striking the back of it, and it will rea- 

 dily cut through even and smooth. A long 

 knife with a concave edge, and a pruning-knife 

 with a convex edge, are also recommended by 

 Mr. Forsyth. 



Hand-pruning saws are likewise proper for 

 cutting out any large branch too thick and stub- 

 born for the knife : these should be of mode- 

 rate sizes, one being quite small and narrow, in 

 order to introduce it occasionally between the 

 iorks of the branches, to cut to exactness. 



And as saws generally leave the cut rough, it 

 is proper to smooth it with a knife or a pruning- 

 chibel. 



The pruning-chisels are necessaiy to use oc- 

 casionally, both to cut off any thick hard 

 branches and large hard knotty parts, or stumps, 

 and to smooth cuts in large branches, &c., af- 

 ter a saw; they should be flat, and from about 

 one to two inches broad : sometimes large 

 strong chisels, fixed on a long pole, are used in 

 jiruning or lopping brandies from the stems of 

 high standard forest trees, one man holding the 

 chisel against the branch, while another, with 

 a large mallet or beetle, strike* the end of the 

 pole. A hand-bill and hatchet are also neces- 

 sary to u?e occasionally among larger kinds of 

 the standard trees. — See Tool. 



All these pruning-tools, in their proper dif- 

 ferent sizes, may be had at the cutlery shops, 

 and of the ironmongers, and many of the nur- 

 sery and seedsmen. 



PHUNUS, a genus containing jilants of the 

 fruit-tree, flowernigand c.ergreen shrubbvkind. 



It belongs to the class and order hosandria 

 MQitiigtjnia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Poinacew. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianth, bell-shaped, five-cleft, decidu- 

 ous : segments blunt, concave : the corolla ha# 

 five petals, roundish, concave, large, spreadin?, 

 inserted into the caly.< by their cjaws : the sta- 

 mina have twenty to thirty awl-shaped fila- 

 ments, almost the length of the corolla, in- 

 serted into the calyx : anthers twin, short : the 

 pistillum is a superior, roundish germ : style 

 filiform, the length of the stamens : stigma or- 

 bicular : the pericarpium is a roundish drupe : 

 the seed is a nut, roundish, compressed, with 

 sutures a little prominent. 



The species cultivated are : ! . P. domcatica. 

 Common Plum Tree; 2. P. insitiiia. The Bul- 

 lace Plum Tree ; 3. P. Anneniaca, Apricock or 

 Apricot Tree ; 4. P. Cerasiis, Common or 

 Cultivated Cherry Tree; 3. P. Avium, Small- 

 fruited Cherry Tree ; 6. P. Padus, Common 

 Bird Cherry Tree; 7. P. rubra, Cornish Bird 

 Cherry Tree ; 8. P. Virginiana, Common Ame- 

 rican Bird Cherry Tree ; 9. P. Canadensis, Ca- 

 nadian Bird Cherry Tree; 10. P. Alahaleb, Per- 

 fumed Cherrv Tree; 11. P. CaroUniana, Ever- 

 green Bird Cherry Tree; 12. P. Lauro-cerasus, 

 Common Laurel; 13. P. Lusitanica, Portugal 

 Laurel. 



The first is a tree of a middling size, irrowins: 

 to the height of fifteen or twenty feet, branch- 

 ing into a moderately-spreading head : the leaves- 

 are on short petioles, which have one or two 

 glands towards the end ; they are slightly serrate 

 and smooth ; when young convoluted or coiled, 

 and pubescent underneath : the peduncles short, 

 commonly solitary : the ealvx erect: the petals 

 white, obovate : the drupe is an oblong sphe- 

 roid, swelling a little more on one side and 

 there grooved, of a blue colour, with a bloom 

 on it : pulp yellowish, tender : the shell bony, 

 ovate, pointed at both ends, and compressed : 

 it loves a lofty exposure, and is a native of Asia 

 and Europe. The cultivated garden Plums are 

 all derived from this species. 



The varieties of garden and orchard Plums 

 are very numerous, differing in the form, taste,, 

 colour and substance of the fruit ; but those 

 mostly cultivated in this country are the follow- 

 ing, accordino; to Mr. Forsylli, and the times at 

 which they ripen : 



Tlie Jaunhative, or White Primordian, which; 

 is a small plum, of a yellov/ colour, and mealy : 

 it ripens in the latter end of July, or beginning 

 of August : one tree of this sort will be suf- 

 ficient for a garden of the common size. The 

 f'arlv Damask, which is commonly called the 

 Morocco Plum, and which is middle-sized, and 

 the flesh good : it ripens about the beginning 

 of August, or sometimes a little later. 'Ihe 



