170 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



convenient to melt it in ;) then add one ounce 

 of fine pulverized saltpetre and one pint of alco- 

 hol ; pour it into a vessel (previously greased) 

 of a size to make the soap at least one inch thick. 

 "When firm enough to cut, before it hardens, cut 

 it into cakes of a convenient size. This soap 

 will be found excellent for taking grease spots 

 out of woollens and silks. — Maine Farmer. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PBUNING APPLE TREES. 



Mr. Editor : — I noticed in the December 

 number of the Farmer, a communication from 

 Mr. Ellis, of Rochester, upon this subject. In 

 your remarks upon that communication you con- 

 demn the practice of spring pruning, and say that 

 we ought to know better than to begin to destroy 

 our orchards just as they are coming to maturity. 

 I have been taught from my boyhood to prune 

 in the spring, but if I can find a better time, I am 

 ready to adopt it. 



But which shall I follow, — my own reason and 

 observation, or the instruction of the Farmer'} 

 If we cut off a branch in the spring, before the 

 leaves expand, do we not save the sap for that 

 which remains ? Can the tree be in as good con- 

 dition to heal the wounds made by pruning just 

 after the leaves are put forth as before ? 



I am aware that some tell us that plants derive 

 most of their nourishment from the atmosphere, 

 inhaled through the leaves ; why cut them off, 

 then, just as they are prepared to act? 



I have never known an apple tree that was 

 pruned in March or April to bleed. In May, we 

 are too busy to prune, so that I cannot speak 

 from my own experience in pruning, in that 

 month ; but I recollect that one of my neighbors 

 gave his apple trees a very thorough pruning last 

 May. I was led to notice these trees particular- 

 ly, from some remarks made by persons who 

 were passing by, as the trees wei-e near the pub 

 lie road ; one said it was too late in the season ; 

 he pruned some of his trees last year about that 

 time, and they bled badly ; another said it was 

 too early ; he thought the middle of June the 

 right time. I think the trees are doing well ; 

 they did not bleed, and soon began to heal. 



I hope, Mr. Editor, if our lives and health are 

 spared until spring, you will come to Danvers 

 and I shall be happy to wait upon you, and show 

 you the trees in this neighborhood, which have 

 been in'uned in the spring for the last forty years 

 William R. Putnam. 



Danvers, Mass., Jan., 1859. 



Remarks. — We do, friend Putnam, condemn 

 the practice of spring pruning, most emphatical- 

 ly : — first, from repeated experiments through a 

 series of years, — secondly, from long and careful 

 observation of the hurtful effects of such prun- 

 ing, — thirdly, because spring pruning, more es- 

 pecially, violates the laws of nature that govern 

 the tree, and^/bwr^/iZ?/, because we have never yet 

 entered an orchard with an opponent of our the- 

 ory, where m'c have had a careful examination of 

 the trees and discussion of the subject, but what 

 the reasonableness of the theory has been made 



apparent before leaving it. A gentleman having 

 the care of a large extent of orcharding, and who 

 had always been an advocate for spring pruning, 

 recently spent an hour with us among the apple 

 trees, where some of them had been pruned at 

 all seasons of the year, and after a most carefuj 

 examination of a large orchard, he confessed that 

 he had, undoubtedly, been in error, and should 

 prune no more trees in the spring. 



You ask, "If we cut off a hrancTi in the spring, 

 before the leaves expand, do we not save the sap 

 for that which remains ? Certainly not, — no 

 more than you would save a man's blood to 

 strengthen the rest of his body by cutting off one 

 of his arms. It ought to be remembered that 

 all grafted or budded trees are in an unnatural 

 or artificial condition, and that pruning is only 

 another step away from nature. We prune be- 

 cause branches cross and chafe each other, or be- 

 cause we fancy there are too many of them, or 

 that the tree may be made, to our eye, with a lit- 

 tle exercise of art, more symmetrical in its form. 

 But in all this there is danger to the tree, so that 

 if we prefer to indulge our taste as to the beauty 

 of the plant and quality of its fruit, we ought to 

 study the nature and habits of the tree we work 

 upon, and learn, not only how our art shall be 

 exercised, but ivhe7i. We ought to learn what 

 the condition of the sap is at various seasons, and 

 what office the leaves perform in the growth of 

 the tree. 



Upon cutting into a vigorous tree any time af- 

 ter the frost is out of the ground, and previous 

 to the 25th of May, a little careful observation 

 will convince any one that the sap during that 

 period is nearly transparent and exceedingly thin 

 and. limpid. It runs freely wherever a smooth, 

 clean cut is made into the wood. This follows 

 because the roots have taken up in abundance 

 this watery substance, and the pores of the tree 

 are open to allow it to pass freely through the 

 stem and branches on its way to the leaves. It 

 is not improbable that there may be a temporary 

 expansion of the pores, for the very purpose of 

 aflbrding a quick and unmolested passage of the 

 sap. 



In this condition of the tree, what would be 

 the inevitable consequence of cutting off a thrifty 

 limb as large as your wrist ? What is there to 

 prevent the sap from gushing out at every one 

 of the tubes or pores which you have cut off? 

 It would be strange, indeed, if the sap should 

 flow up to the wound and there stop, with all the 

 mouths of the pores wide open ! 



Having traced the sap along to the leaf, let us 

 see, for a moment, what its action is there. Ac- 

 cording to Wood, a most accurate observer, its 

 functions are exhalation, absorption, respiration 

 and digestion, and the result of their combined 



