34 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL, SOCIETY. 



prune off all the limbs, leaving a bare stem two inches in diameter, 

 as trees taken from the woods are usually treated. Trees of the 

 size and proportions here shown (if nursery grown) are much 

 better shaped, and make handsomer and in all ways more satisfac- 

 tory trees. 



The Carolina Poplar is a tree of very rapid growth. Some 

 persons would plant it without pruning ; but that would be a 

 mistake. "When trained for lawns the limbs should be shortened 

 in, to thicken their tops, and also to increase their ability to 

 withstand the force of the wind without breaking. If for street 

 trees, they should be pruned up higher. 



The California Privet is a quick-growing hedge plant. These 

 were grown from cuttings. They should be set deeply, and cut 

 back fully one-half. Some planters set them without pruning ; 

 but they are very rapid growers, and I recommend pruning them 

 not only in March but also in July, cutting off fully one-half of 

 the new growth, and sometimes more, else they will soon lose all 

 symmetry as a hedge. 



Here we have a Green Mountain grape vine, three years old. 

 All that is wanted from it the first year is one shoot. Let it grow 

 upright and train it to a stake. If properly fed it will grow from 

 six to twelve feet during the season. November is the best time 

 to prune grape vines, therefore during that month cut down the 

 vine to the lowest wire, which should be two and one-half feet 

 from the ground. The second season allow three shoots to grow 

 from the main stem, and in November cut them back to two feet. 

 In the following spring tie down two of these shoots to the lowest 

 wire, for the lower arms ; and the third shoot tie to the second 

 wire, which should be eighteen inches above the lowest wire. 

 Each of the lower arms, grown the preceding year, will produce 

 from two to four bunches of grapes from each eye. Most persons 

 allow too much fruit to remain on the young vine, thus weakening 

 the plant and getting a poorer quality of fruit. It is better to 

 leave only one bunch to a lateral to mature in the first two or 

 three bearing years, and never more than three bunches each when 

 the vine is older. The new laterals of the third season's growth 

 should be cut back to two eyes, excepting the end laterals which 

 may be cut back to twenty inches, and tied down to extend the 

 lower arms. Two of the three new shoots of this third season's 

 growth are cut back to eighteen inches, for new arms for the 



