626 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



ed and stopped in its growth, the other becomes 

 stronger ; and this is one of the most useful lacts 

 connected vviih pruning, because it enables a skil- 

 lul cultivator to equalize the rate of growth of all 

 parts of a tree ; and, as has been already slated, 

 this is of the greatest consequence in the operation 

 of budding. In fact, the utility of the practice, 

 so common in the management of fruit trees 

 when very young, turns entirely upon this. A 

 seedling tree has a hundred buds to support, and 

 consequently the stem grows slowly, and the i)lant 

 becomes bushy-headed: but, being cut down so 

 as to leave only two or three buds, they spring up- 

 wards with great vigor, and, being reduced 

 eventually to one, as happens practically, that one 

 receives all the sap, which would otherwise be 

 diverted into a hundred buds, and thrives accord- 

 ingly, the bushy head being no longer found, but 

 a clean straight stem instead. In the oak and 

 the Spanish "chestnut this is particularly conspi- 

 cuous. 



Nothing is more strictly to be guarded against 

 than the disposition to bleed, which occurs in some 

 plants when pruned, and to such an extent as to 

 threaten them with death. In the vine, in milky 

 plants, and in most climbers or twiners, this is 

 particularly conspicuous ; and it is not unliequent- 

 ]y observed in fruit trees with gummy or mucila- 

 ginous secretions, such as the plum, the peach, 

 and other stone liuits. This properly usually 

 arises from the larger size of the vessels through 

 which sap is propelled at the periods of early 

 growths, which vessels are unable, when cut 

 through, to collapse sufficiently to close their own 

 apertures, when they necessarily pour forth their 

 fluid contents as long as the roots continue to ab- 

 sorb them irom the soil. If this is allowed to 

 continue, the system becomes so exhausted as to 

 be unable to recover from the shock, and the plant 

 will either become very unhealthy, or will die.* 

 The only mode of avoiding it is to lake care 

 never to wound such trees at the time when their 

 sap first begins to flow ; afier a time, the demand 

 upon the system by the leaves becomes so great 

 that there is no surplus, and therefore bleeding 

 does not take place when a wound is inflicted. f 

 • All these thmgs show how extremely necessary 

 it is to perform the operations ol pruning wiih 

 care and discretion. But in addition to the gene- 

 ral facts already mentioned, there are others of a 

 more special kind that require attention. The 



* [A solution of gum shellac in alcohol, of the 

 consistence of thin paste (put on with a brush), is an 

 admirable application to wounds of stone-fruit trees, 

 and others, which are disposed to bleed profusely. It 

 is readily applied, adheres closely, excludes the air 

 completely, and is less offensive to the eye than large 

 plasters of clay, composition, &.c. A. J. D.] 



f "The vine often bleeds excessively when prun- 

 ed in an improper season, or when accidentally wound- 

 ed ; and, I beUeve, no mode of stopping the flow of 

 the sap is at present known to gardeners. I therefore 

 mention the following, which I discovered many 



fears ago, and have always practised with success : — 

 f tu four parts of scraped cheese be added one part 

 of calcined oyster shells, or other pure calcareous 

 earth, and this composition be pressed strongly into 

 the pores of the wood, the sap will instantly cease to 

 flow ; so that the largest branch may, of course, be 

 taken off at any season with safety." {Knight, in 

 Hort. Trans , i. 102.) 



first thing to be thought of is the peculiar nature 

 of the plant under operation, and the manner in 

 which its special habits may render a special mode 

 of pruning necessary. For example, the fruit of 

 the fig and walnut is borne by the wood of the 

 same season ; that of the vine and filbert by 

 that of the second season ; and pears, apples, 

 &c,, by wood of some years' growth ; it is clear 

 that plants of these three kinds will each require 

 a distinct plan of pruning lor fruit. 



The pruner has frequently no other object in 

 view than that of thinning the branches so as to 

 allow the free access of light and air to the fruit ; 

 and if this purpose is wisely followed, by merely 

 removing superfluous foliage, the end attained is 

 highly useful ; it is clear, however, that in order to 

 arrive at this end, without committing injury to 

 the tree which is operated on, it is indispensable 

 that its exact mode of bearing fruit should be in 

 the first instance cleaily ascertained. 



The period of ripening fruit is sometimes chang- 

 ed by skilful pruning, as in the case cf the rasp- 

 berry, which may be made to bear a second crop 

 of fruit in the autumn, after the first crop has been 

 gathered. In order to effect this, the strongest 

 canes, which in the ordinary course of things 

 would bear a quantity of fruiting twigs, are cut 

 down to within two or three eyes of the base ; the 

 laterals thus produced, being impelled into rapid 

 growth by an exuberance of sap, are unable to 

 Ibrm their fruit buds so early as those twigs in 

 which excessive growth is not thus produced ; 

 and, consequently, while the latter fruit at one 

 season, the others cannot reach a bearing state 

 till some weeks later. Autumnal crops of sum- 

 mer roses, and of strawberries, have been some- 

 times procured by the destruction of the usual crop 

 at a very early period of the season ; the sap 

 intended to nourish the flower buds destroyed is, 

 after their removal, expended in forming new flow- 

 er buds, which make their appearance at a later 

 part of the year. 



The season for pruning is usually midwinter, or 

 at midsummer ; the latter for the purpose of re- 

 moving new superfluous branches, ihe former for 

 thinning and arranging the several parts of a tree. 

 It is, however, the practice, occasionally, to per- 

 form what is called the winter pruning early in the 

 autumn, as in the case of the gooseberry, and of 

 the vine when weak ; and the efliect is found to 

 be, that ihe shoots of such plants, in the succeed- 

 ing season, are stronger than they would have 

 been had the pruning been performed at a much 

 later season. This is necessarily so, as a little 

 reflection will show. » # * # # 



With regard to pruning plants when transplant- 

 ed, there can be no doubt that it is more frequent- 

 ly injurious than beneficial. It is supposed, or 

 seems to be, that when the branches ol' a trans- 

 planted tree are headed back, the remaining buds 

 will break with more force than if Ihe pruning had 

 not been performed. * * * # l(g roots are 

 not fully in action, but from the injuries sustained 

 in removing they are capable of exercising but 

 little influence on the branches. The great point 

 to attain, in the first instance, is the renovation 

 of the roots, and that will happen only in propor- 

 tion to the healthy action of the leaves and buds : 

 if, therefore, the branches of a plant are re- 

 moved by the pruning knife, a great obstacle is 

 opposed to this renovation; but, if they remain, 



