1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



263 



Fur the New England Farmer. 

 ABOUT FBUIT TBEES. 



I observe by the report of the Sixth Legisla- 

 tive Agricultural Meeting, that the chairman 

 made some most excellent remarks on pruning 

 apple trees ; and I regret that want of room, or 

 any other reason, prevented the editor of the 

 Farmer from publishing them at length. I do 

 not know that I have an idea on this subject, 

 that has not been derived from some agricultu- 

 ral or horticultural publication, or from some ju- 

 dicious cultivator of fruit ; but I wish to add my 

 testimony in favor of what I believe to be the 

 right way of pruning trees. 



It has become an established rule with me, 

 never to cut a branch from a vigorous growing 

 apple tree, if it can be avoided, except when so 

 fully in leaf that the sap will not flow from the 

 wound. By this course the trees will entirely 

 escape those terrible black spots below the 

 wounds, which always disfigure and often kill the 

 bark for a considerable space. I should, in gen- 

 eral, prefer June to July or August, to do this 

 work, as the earlier it can be safely done, the 

 more time will be given for the wounds to heal the 

 first season, and any exposed branch will become 

 more gradually habituated to the scorching suns 

 of midsummer. 



The remarks of Mr. Lake, at the same meet- 

 ing, are almost equally in accordance with my ex- 

 perience. If we train up our young trees in the 

 way they should grow, there will be little need 

 of cutting large limbs at all. if we should find 

 it necessary to remove such, the stumps should 

 be carefully protected from the weather, so as to 

 keep the scar dry and sound as long as possible. 

 Whether fruit is really injured by too much ex- 

 posure to the hot sun, is a matter to be tested by 

 observation, but the brown, leathery appearance 

 of the naked branches does not indicate a salu- 

 tary effect from exposure to it. Many a sturdy 

 old tree, I have no doubt, has received its death 

 from the hand of the grafter, who, to give his 

 scions a good start, has deprived the branches of 

 both their customary shade and the foliage requi- 

 site to keep up a brisk flow of the sap. 



The manner of pruning trees is a no less im- 

 portant matter. A rough giant of a man, in cow- 

 bide boots, well garnished with nails in the heels, 

 and his red right hand armed with an axe, or 

 coarse-toothed saw, is a vision ominous of much 

 evil, when seen among the branches of a tender 

 barked fruit tree. Like the friendly bear in the 

 fable, who in his well meaning efibrts to brush a 

 fly from the nose of the sleeping man, crushed 

 in the organ entirely, he means good and does 

 evil. Devastation is as sure to follow in his 

 track, as in that of a flight of locusts. It should 

 be a cardinal rule never to set about the work 

 carelessly or without a plan. There are many 

 questions to be decided before we can do it in 

 the very best manner, such as what are the nat- 

 ural habits of the tree ; is it designed to cultivate 

 the land with other crops, or to spread the trees 

 so near the ground as to occupy it entirely with 

 them ; is the exposure such that high trees will 

 sufl'er particularly, both in the branches and fruit, 

 from strong sweeping winds ; and then, how with 

 the material before us can we obtain just what we 

 desire ; how much can we cut now and yet leave 



enough to protect the rest from the scorching 

 sun, and afford sufficient work for the roots to 

 keep them in a healthy condition. Having de- 

 cided all these matters, and any others that may 

 happen to have a bearing on the case, we are pre- 

 pared to begin our work. 



For tools, I want a fine-toothed saw and a thin 

 bladed knife, both in the finest order, and a step 

 ladder. The branch should be supported with 

 the left hand, while cut, so as not to start the 

 bark at the place where the instrument comes 

 out. When using the knife, which I rely upon 

 almost solely, on young trees, I press the branch 

 to one side so as to take oft' all resistance from 

 pressure on its flat sides. In this way limbs an 

 inch or more in diameter may be easily cut 

 through. My next step is to examine the wound, 

 and, if it is not all right, pare it carefully till the 

 surface is smooth, and the bark adherent all 

 round. When the operation is done I wish it to 

 appear to be a wound on the side of the branch 

 or trunk, rather than a stump projecting from it. 

 If the pruning is done as soon as the tree is fully 

 I in leaf, it will be found at the end of the season 

 that a handsome circle of new Avood is formed all 

 round the wound, and the wood within is smooth 

 and sound and by the end of the second season, 

 it will be entirely healed, unless quite a large 

 one. I next take th.ise branches which will 

 have to be removed at another time, and cut in 

 their extremities so as almost entirely to check 

 their growth. Finally, if I find any branch, which 

 I propose to have remain permanently on the ti-ee, 

 is assuming an undesirable form, I endeavor to 

 correct it by clipping or otherwise as is requi- 

 site. By following this plan regularly, I find my 

 trees improving from year to year, and I hope 

 eventually to get them in good shape, and have 

 no large limbs to cut off. 



I wish to remind those persons, who are anxious 

 lest we shonld raise too nany apples, that there 

 ar5 at least 500,000,000 people living on our 

 globe in countries Avhere apples do not grow ; 

 and, that probably 499,000,000 of these would 

 like this fruit if they could get it ; and moreover, 

 that by keeping apples at a temperature just 

 above the freezing point, they may be kept sound 

 for any desirable length of time, and transported 

 to the moat remote parts of the world. Apples 

 have been sent to California packed in boxes 

 among cargoes of ice, and it is as easy to send 

 them 10 the East Indies, and other parts of tlie 

 tropical world. In view of these facts I would ap- 

 peal to the patriotism and the pockets of the peo- 

 ple of New England, and ask them why they can- 

 not grow apples as well as ice enough to supply 

 a large part of the world with both these luxuries. 



11. Lincoln. 



Lancaster, Mass., April 11, 18o9. 



STARTING CUTTINGS IN MOSS. 

 It is a very simple operation, and at the same 

 time one that requires some little skill and care, 

 to strike a cutting. Cuttings of grape rines, cur- 

 rants, and of many shrubs and flowers are usual- 

 ly started in sand, and some think brick dust the 

 best material for this purpose. We see in the 

 January number of the Gardener's Monfhbj Ad- 

 vertiser a quotation from a German periodical, 

 in regard to the use of swamp moss or sphaynum 



