328 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



pocket. My first impulse was to make an exclama- 

 tion ; my second, which I carried into execution, to 

 ascertain my loss, which I found to be the very 

 alarming one of my baggage checks — my whole 

 property being thereby placed at this vagabond's 

 disposal ; for I knew perfectly well that if I claimed 

 my trunks without my checks, the acute baggage- 

 master would have set me down as a bold swindler. 

 The keen-eyed conductor was not in the car, and, 

 had he been there, the necessity for habitual sus- 

 picion, incidental to his position, would so far have 

 removed his original sentiments of generosity as to 

 make him turn a deaf ear to my request ; and there 

 was not one of my fellow-travellers whose physiog- 

 nomy would have warranted me in appealing to 

 him. So, recollecting that my checks were marked 

 Chicago, and seeing that the thief's ticket bore the 

 same name, I resolved to wait the chapter of acci- 

 dents, or the reappearance of my friends. * ♦ * 

 With a whoop, like an Indian war-whoop, the 

 cars ran into ashed — they sto])ped — the pickjiocket 

 got up — I got up, too ; the baggage-master came 

 to the door. "This gentleman has the checks for 

 my baggage," said I, pointing to the thief. Bewil- 

 dered, he took them from his waistcoat pocket, 

 gave them to the baggage-master, and went hastily 

 away. 1 had no inclination to cry, "Stop thielT' 

 and had hardly time to congratulate myself on the 

 fortunate impulse which had led me to say what I 

 did, when my friends appeared from the next car. 

 They were too highly amused with my recital to 

 sympathize at all with my feelings of annoyance, 

 and one of them, a gentleman filling a high situa- 

 tion in the east, laughed heartily, saying, in a thor- 

 oughly American tone, "The Engli^h ladies must b? 

 'cute customers, if they can outwit Yankee pick- 

 pockets." — r/te Englishivoman in Amtrka. 



PRUNING. 



The object in pruning, generally, is not to make 

 the tree assume a form foreign to its nature, but, in 

 this country, to relieve it of a redundancy of growth, 

 and to take away those parts which interfere with 

 each other, and which may, if sufiered to remain, 

 endanger the whole condition of the tree at some 

 future time. In England, where the climate is 

 damp and the sun often obscured, they shape the 

 tree to relieve it from these unfavorable influences, 

 giving it a broad, open head, where the sun, when it 

 does shine, may be freely admitted as well as the 

 air. In this country, where sun and air are hot 

 for two or three months, somewhat dense heads 

 are unobjectionable, provided the limbs do not chafe 

 each other, and the soil is sufficiently rich to sus- 

 tain a liberal amount of limbs iiud leaves. 



The Baldwin, for instance, unchecked, will form 

 a thick, compact top, the Northern Spy ])rim and 

 slender, and running up freely for the first six or 

 eight years, while the Ehode Island Greenings and 

 most of the sweet apples will spread themselves 

 widely on every side, or assume the whip-lash form, 

 with few leaves except on the extremities of the 

 branches. It ought to be clear to all, that these 

 varieties should receive different treatment in 



pruning. No single rule will be apjilicable to all 

 trees. 



The ybrwi of fruit trees should be decided in the 

 nursery ; that is, the limbs should be set by the 

 nurseryman where they ought to remain, so that 

 after being transplanted there shall be no cutting 

 of the main branches. But as there are different 

 tastes in this matter, the limbs may be allowed to 

 come out at different heights from the ground, 

 ranging from three feet to five feet, and in this 

 range all customers may be suited. Where trees 

 are started in life in this manner, there is really 

 very little pruning to be done. With a sharp kej'- 

 hole saw, a good knife, and a quick eye, one may 

 do all that is required to 200 young trees that have 

 been well tended in half a day. 



The principal amount of pruning that is to be 

 done is upon old trees, that have been badly treat- 

 ed, and trees that have been grafted. It is custo- 

 mary to set two scions in each stock, so that there 

 may be a double chance of success, and as most of 

 the limbs are usually taken off, if both scions liA'e, 

 the tree is crowded to excess with its new top. In 

 such cases, one of the scions in each stock, after 

 having grown one year, should be cut out and the 

 wound carefully covered with wax. But this is 

 generally neglected, the top is dense, confused, and 

 unsightly, — and these are the cases where great 

 skill and tenderness are required in pruning. 



In performing this work, it is of the utmost im- 

 portance as to what season of the year it is to be 

 done. We think few persons have investigated 

 this subject more, or had more practical experience 

 in it, than ourselves, and yet our conclusions are 

 contrary to those of several of our contemporaries. 

 The orchardist must be a careful student of the 

 habits and physiology of the tree. We believe 

 that the theory presented in our columns by Mr. 

 Groodrich, of Burlington, Vt., and by Mr. H. Cur- 

 tis, in the Rural Intelligencer, Augusta, Me., is 

 correct. It may do to take off a twig or quite 

 small branch at any time, but it should be an inex- 

 orable rule, that no liinb larger Ihan a pipe stem 

 should be removed during the vionths of March, 

 April or May. There is not an old orchard in our 

 knowledge in which we cannot point out an irre- 

 trievable mischief caused by spring pruning, — and 

 point it out so clearly as to convince the most pre- 

 judiced mind, if it be a candid one. 



Prune through the middle of June, and again af- 

 ter the leaves have fallen, in October and Novem- 

 ber, always covering the wounds with gum shellac 

 dissolved in alcohol, paint, or something that will 

 keep out the sun and air. Fill the cavities of old 

 trees with clay and cow manure, thoroughly mixed, 

 and you will find your labors abundantly repaid. 



The -whole subject is important, and suggests 

 more points than we have time or space for at pres- 

 lent. 



