1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



229 



way to cure a ringbone, and not leave a scar or 

 blemish on the foot?" 



We have never known a case of confirmed or 

 decided ringbone cured by any process. A scar 

 should never be made in treating it. Cutting and 

 burning should never be allowed — they are both 

 cruel and useless. 



The best medicine for man or beast, to pre- 

 serve health, is exercise ; the best to restore it, 

 is rest. This latter is the king of medicines, and 

 ■we could enumerate some of its surprising cures. 

 For incipient ringbone, this is emphatically the 

 remedy. Dr. Dadd recommends in addition, an 

 application of acetate of cantharides, as being 

 milder and better than common blistering. 

 When the part becomes hot, apply cold water 

 bandages. — Country Gentleman. 



For the Neio England Farmer. 

 VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. 



Mr. Editor : — An inquiry from Wm. R. Put- 

 nam, of Danvers, led you, in your issue of Feb. 

 26th, into some detailed remarks on the physi- 

 ology of the growth of trees. From these laws 

 of vegetation, corroborated also by large person- 

 al experience, you draw the conclusion that the 

 only fitting season for pruning is the months of 

 June and July. I intend to take issue with you 

 in certain respects, on this point, although I 

 may agree with you in regard to it, in others. 

 Before going further, however, permit me to ask, 

 ■whether your statement, under the head of res- 

 piration in plants, is correct, namely, that the 

 leaves absorb oxygen and evolve carbonic acid 

 gas. It is contrary to what I have been taught, 

 and to the statement in the next paragraph, 

 "that oxygen is evolved, and carbon solidified." 

 Lindley says, "When a plant is exposed to the 

 direct influence of the sun, it gives off oxygen, 

 by decomposing the carbonic acid ; whereupon 

 the carbon remains behind in a solid state." 



In regard to pruning, I have always consid- 

 ered that the appropriate season should be de- 

 termined by the ends which the pruner has in 

 vievw These are twofold ; 1st, improved shape, 

 increased vigor ; 2d, production of fruit. 



In pruning for shape or vigor, the most suita- 

 ble time, in my opinion, is after the fall of the 

 leaves, no matter how late. My reason for prun- 

 ing at this season is as follows : during the sea- 

 son of rest, as long as the ground remains not 

 frozen, a plant continues to absorb food from the 

 soil by its roots. The sap thus garnered, is not, 

 however, distributed though the branches until 

 the -warmth of spring brings about a renewal of 

 the circulation. Consequently, if branches are 

 removed in early winter, all the sap which has 

 accumulated in the roots during the interval will 

 be distributed among the remaining branches, 

 now fewer in number, imparting to them addi- 

 tional and freshened vigor. If pruning should 

 be deferred until late in the spring, so late that 

 the accumulated sap is already distributed, then 

 each branch and each snoot that is removed car- 

 ries with it just so much sap, and consequently 

 the loss of so much vigor. 



The question now arises at what time this 

 ■winter pruning should terminate ; at what sea- 

 son the flow of sap is so far advanced as to de- 



prive the tree by the loss of wood, of the store 

 which it has been accumulating. What do writ- 

 ers teach on this point? Lindley says; "As 

 pruning, however, is not always intended to in- 

 crease the vigor of a tree, late or spring pruning, 

 if not deferred until the sap is in rapid motion, 

 may be more judicious." "The season for prun- 

 ing is mid-winter or mid-summer; the former, for 

 thinning and arranging; the latter, for removing 

 new superfluous wood." "By late pruning, a 

 large proportion of the accumulated sap is 

 thrown away." My own work in this particular 

 is always ended by the first week in December. 



The following passage is from D'Albret: 



"In taking branches from a tree when stripped 

 of its foliage, during winter, January, February, 

 and March, when the sap is in repose, concen- 

 trated in the roots and woody parts, none of it is 

 lost; it all goes to the benefit of the tree where- 

 in it has retreated." 



I quote again from Du Breuil: "The suitable 

 period for pruning is during the repose of vege- 

 tation, from November to March ; but, betsveen 

 these two limits, the most favorable time is that 

 which follows severe frosts, and precedes the 

 first movements of vegetation, about the month 

 of February." Now, as spring, in France, about 

 Paris, is fully a month earlier than with us, it 

 follows that there would be no disadvantage in 

 pruning, in Massachusetts, as late as the middle 

 of April. 



Once more, from M. Hardy : "In the climate 

 of Paris, pruning may be carried on all winter, 

 except during severe frosts. But the most fa- 

 vorable season in all countries of which the cli- 

 mate approximates to that of Paris, is February 

 and March, after the severe cold weather has 

 passed. As the apple tree is one of the most 

 tardy in coming into leaf, the pruning of it may 

 be deferred still later." 



The writers whom I have just quoted are the 

 highest authorities in France and England. I 

 would not, however, be understood to intimate 

 ihat authorities and theories should take prece- 

 dence of experience and observation ; but the 

 Frenchmen whom I have quoted unite large 

 practical observation with a high degree of sci- 

 entific knowledge. 



With regard to my own experience in fall 

 pruning, I will merely say, without entering into 

 any details of my system, which might be not 

 only interesting but useful, that during the last 

 six years I have taken the entire care of a young 

 orchard of two hundred trees. All the pruning 

 has been done by myself, begun after the fall of 

 the leaf, and terminated in the early part of De- 

 cember. I cannot recall a single accident of any 

 kind which I can refer to winter-pruning ; the 

 wounds have always healed smoothly. 



I shall be pleased to give you and Mr. Put- 

 nam an opportunity to criticise winter-pruning. 

 In regard to pruning for fruit, I may have a few 

 words to say at another time. 



As the French writers whom I have quoted 

 may not be known to your readers generally, I 

 will say that D'Albret was head gardener for 

 thirty-two years, in the department of fruit trees, 

 at the Garden of Plants ; Du Breuil is profes- 

 sor of horticulture in Paris, and his work has ob- 

 tained prizes from the Agricultural Societies of 

 Paris, Rouen and Versailles ; M. Hardy is head- 



