102 



Lime, Carbonate of Lime, Ground Limestone. Vol. II. 



add to the health, vigor and iruitfulness of 

 trees and vines. 



TRAINING AND PRUNING. 



Trees, when young-, both forest and fruit, 

 may be trained to any siiape, from that of a 

 lofty towering top, by pruning aw ay the large 

 limbs, except the leadmg upright one, to that 

 of a low, spreading top, by cutting off the 

 leading upright limbs. Pear and cherry trees 

 do well with a high top ; other kinds make 

 the best bearers with round tops ; and no tree, 

 except it be intended as a wall or espalier, 

 should be suffered to form a top lef;s than five 

 or six feet from the ground : to this end all 

 limbs and branches should to that height, be 

 gradually cut away. 



Pruning should not be neglected, in divest- 

 ing trees of suckers from the root, or side ; 

 shoots, when they are not necessary to fill a 

 vacancy; and generally, in promoting a free 

 circulation of air, and in preventing limbs 

 and branches or vines from intersecting or 

 crowding each other, a medium should be 

 observed, as pruning too much is injurious. 

 The superabundance of sap will cause side 

 shoots, suckers, and eventually decay. The 

 limb or branch intended to be removed should 

 be cut away clear and smooth, without leav- 

 ing stumps or snags, and even with the trunk 

 or main limb from which they are taken. 

 Large wounds, or those of a moderate size, 

 exposed to wet should be covered over vvith 

 tar, paint or composition. If this is neglected, 

 or stumps or snags of the branches cut away 

 are suffered to remain, the stump or exposed 

 part will rot in the tree, render it hollow, and 

 m a few years destroy it. Many orchards 

 have rotted, and are now rotting down from 

 tjiis cause. 



PISEASES. 



To preveut or cure diseases in vegetation, 

 as well as animal life, the best antidotes and 

 principal remedies are io remove the causes 

 ivhich produce them. To this end destroy 

 caterpillars, all noxious worms and insects, 

 prune off all unsound and alTected parts. If 

 this cannot be done without destroying its 

 usefulness, cut it down and replace it with a 

 young, healthy, vigorous tree. Swine rooting 

 under trees, and birds frequenting the tops, 

 building nests unmolested, will, in a great 

 jneasure, if not wholly, destroy insects and 

 vermin. 



When a tree is bark bound, covered with 

 rough bark and moss, these must be scraped 

 off; and being washed with soap suds or 

 covered with a coat of lime wash, will be 

 beneficial; prune thv3 tree, removing side 

 shoots and suckers from the root, and stir and 

 manure the ground, for the most part, at least 

 as far as the principal roots extend. The 



soil being sod bound, or barren, or covered 

 with underbrush, or all together are the 

 causes of the difficulty ; these being remedied, 

 the tree will again thrive. 



It is a mistaken opinion that the disease 

 which destroys peach trees, &c. caused by 

 grubs, can neither be prevented nor cured ; 

 either of which can be efiected, if proper hj 

 and thoroughly attended to. It is caused by 

 an insect in pricking the bark of the tree near 

 the root, and depositing the seed which pro- 

 duces the grub, between the first of July and 

 frosts in the fall. To prevent this, about a 

 foot of the trunk of the tree next the root 

 should be brushed over with a coat of some 

 sticky, nauseous or impenetrable substance, 

 and this repeated as often as the substance 

 wastes away, is washed off by rains, or crum- 

 bles away during the time specified above, 

 which may be tar, train oil, or whitewash, 

 and a little ashes or lime kept on tli^ ground 

 around against the tree. When trees are 

 atlected either in the fall or spring, dig and 

 remove the earth around the trunk to expose 

 and give free access to every part affected ; 

 remove the gum, search thoroughly for the 

 holes in the bark by which the grubs entered, 

 prick into the bark with a sharp pointed 

 knife: more effectually to find and trace the 

 grubs and their holes, cut away the bark 

 over the holes so as to lay them bare their 

 whole extent, length and breadth, smooth the 

 edges of the bark, scrape off" all the gum and 

 filth, which remove, together with all the 

 grubs found, wash the holes and parts cut 

 and scraped with ley or soap suds, or rub a 

 little dry ashes over them, and close up the 

 space dug with fresh soil ; examine the tree 

 occasionally, and more particularly every 

 spring and lall ; repeat the operation to a 

 greater or less extent, when necessary. By 

 this means the grub will be subdued and ex- 

 terminated, and the trees flourish. 



For the Fainieis' Cabinet. 



Limc« Carbonate of Ijinie,"»Grouiid I<lincp 

 stone> 



On the subject of using ground limestone, 

 instead of lime as a manure, as recommended 

 by Wm. Partridge, and replied to by "Ob- 

 server," I will remark, that although lime 

 does return to a carbonated hydrate, the same 

 condition it was in before burning, yet be- 

 tween that and ground limestone, there is a 

 material difference; such lime will render 

 land barren, when applied in quantities much 

 less than we often see washed upon the ad- 

 joining fields from roads made of and repaired 

 with limestone, producing no effect sensibly 

 different from the wash from the same road 

 where made with other stone. 



This difference probably results from car- 



