18C8. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



239 



whether cultivated or in grass ; and, in case 

 the land is planted, a little more is put in the 

 hill. If other manure is to be used upon the 

 same land, the compost is worked into the 

 manure and both used together. On land on 

 which plaster has no perceptible effect when 

 applied alone, this compost proves as beneficial 

 as on land where plaster works favorably, in 

 consequence, as he believes, of its combina- 

 tion with the ashes. Mr. M. prefers this home- 

 made compost, to any of the commercial ma- 

 nures. He is particular about the kind of 

 plaster, and says the white has little if any 

 agricultural value. 



For the Kew England Farmer, 

 TIME FOR PBUNING. 



I have lately made some investigations on 

 the question of "The proper time for Prun- 

 ing;" have consulted many volumes of the 

 New England Farmer, (Monthly,) as well 

 as a large number of authors on fruit culture, 

 and were it not for the substantial reasons 

 given in your editorials on the subject, I con- 

 less I should be at a loss to know what is fact 

 or truth in the case. As I have the works 

 alluded to open before me I will make some 

 extracts, remarking, however, that the first 

 seems to me to be the correct view, and to 

 accord with the teachings of your paper. 



Cole's American Fruit Book, at page 57 

 says : — 



"Slight pruning, in which very small limbs, j or early in the spring 

 or dead limbs of any size, are removed, may 

 be performed when most convenient, at any 

 seat-on. IModerate pruning should be done 

 in June, July or August, though it will answer 

 very well till December. If trees are pruned 

 in July, August, or September, the wood will 

 become hard, sound and well seasoned, and 

 commence healing over ; and it is not mate- 

 rial, otherwise than for appearance, whether 

 it heals over the first, second or third year, as 

 it will remain in a healthy state. We should 

 prefer October, November, or even Decem- 

 ber, to the spring, which is the worst season." 



Ne.xt comes remarks on page 80th of the 

 "American Fruit Culturist," by Thomas, pub- 

 lished in 1867. He says : — 



"Many cultivators have been misled into the 

 opinion that early summer is the best time to 

 prune, from the fact that the wounds heal 

 more readily. Pruning afte.' the tree has 

 commenced growth has a tendency in nearly 



every instance to check Its vigor As 



fresh wounds always render trees more liable 

 to be affected by intense cold, quite hardy 

 trees only may be pruned any time during the 

 winter. On those inclining to be tender, the 

 operation should be deferred till towards 

 spring." 



So much for the latest information. I next 



quote the one most remote, "Thatcher's Amer- 

 ican Orchardist," published in 1825. At page 

 67 it is said : — 



"The most proper season for pruning fruit 

 ti-ees,_ unquestionably is when the sap-juice is 

 in active motion toward the extreme branches. 

 In our New England climate, we have the 

 clearest indications that the sap commences its 

 circulation about the 10th of April. From 

 this period to about the last of May, whether 

 the buds are just opening, or the blossoms are 

 fully expanded, the pruning should be accom- 

 plished. It would, for certain reasons, how- 

 ever, seem advisable not to delay the opera- 

 tion after the middle of May, as the branches 

 are then so charged with a full flow of sap 

 that the bark would be apt to peel, whereby 

 unseemly wounds might be left, and canker 

 induced." 



"Kenrick's New American Orchardist," 

 published in 1835, page 48, says : — 



"For moderate pruning, which alone is gen- 

 erally needful, June and July and during the 

 longest days of the summer, is the very best 

 time, for wounds of all kinds heal admi- 

 rably at this period; the wood remaining 

 sound and bright, and even a tree debarked 

 at this season recovers a new bark immedi- 

 ately." 



The last quotation I make is from a small, 

 but valuable work, entitled "The Garden, 

 &c.,"byD. H. Jaques, published in 18G6. 

 At page 71 the author says : — 



"When the object of pruning is to promote 

 growth or improve the form of the tree, the 

 operation is generally performed in the winter 

 Some, however, recom- 

 mend pruning in May and June." T. w. s. 



Bostoti, Mass., 1868. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 STRETCHES IN" SHEEP. 



Much has been said and written from time 

 to time about stretcliers or stretches in sheep. 

 That it is a bad disorder and occasions a great 

 loss to sheep owners, none will deny ; but the 

 cause and the remedy are not so well under- 

 stood. Some writers attribute it to costive- 

 ness, the result of improper food, lack of 

 roots and other laxative diet, while others 

 contend that it is caused by worms in. the in- 

 testines, producing a stoppage in the excre- 

 tory passages. I have no doubt both are 

 correct, as the symptoms of disease are the 

 same in either case ; so much so that I very 

 much doubt if the most experienced in sucfi 

 matters can ascertain to any degree of cer- 

 tainty the real state of the case, without an 

 actual examination after the death of the dis- 

 eased sheep. 



As to the remedy*, which is really the main 

 thing, no two writers agree, and m practice 

 all prescribed remedies more or less fail ; so 

 much so that a large number of sheep die an- 

 nually from this disease, while, as a rule, the 



