82 



2d. By pruning the root. This mode of 

 stunting the growth of a tree, and thereby 

 causing that accumulation of sap in the 

 branches, necessary to the formation of fruit- 

 buds, is one of the very best ways of inducing 

 fruitfulness that we are acquainted with. 

 This work may be done in autumn, in winter, 

 or early in the spring. 



At a few feet from the trunk of the tree, 

 varying the distance according to its size, dig 

 a circular ditch around it, eighteen or twenty 

 inches deep, cutting off all the lateral roots 

 smoothly, close to the circular mass of earth 

 in which the tree stands, removing the outer 

 pieces of roots, from the surrounding ground, 

 as much as can be done conveniently. Fill 

 up the trench, with good, rich soil, and the 

 tree will, in this country, generally be brought 

 into a permanent fruit-bearing state. Repeat- 

 ing the operation annually, apples, pears, and 

 other fruit trees may be rendered productive 

 dwarfs, even so as to be planted only six or 

 eight feet apart. And, if at the same time, we 

 apply the shortening-in process above describ- 

 ed, they may be kept in a beautiful pyramidal 

 form, and rendered very profitable. 



J ' ,. : % r ' 



