544 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Deo 



in the manner in which it is done, and in the 

 season usually selected for the operation. 

 Trees are living things, and must be treated 

 as such. Their young bark is as vulnerable to 

 hob nail boots as the back of the hand, and as 

 easily mutilated by a dull saw or knife. No 

 skilful surgeon would amputate a limb with 

 dull instruments, or leave the bleeding wound 

 exposed to the air ; but many farmers who 

 have pruned for forty years, and think they 

 "know a thing or two about it," do both. 



Every wound made in pruning that is half an 

 inch across bhould be covered. If the tree is 

 vigorous it will probably grow over without 

 help, but covering greatly aids the effort of 

 the tree in heajjng up any damage done to its 

 outer garment. The best covering is gum 

 shellac dissolved in alcohol ; but as alcohol is 

 quite expensive at present, paint of any color 

 will answer the purpose, if care is used not to 

 let it get upon the bark. 



There is need of but very little pruning 

 where an orchard has been properly managed 

 from the start ; no large limbs will ever need 

 to be taken away, unless broken by winds or 

 injured in some other way. Prune hut little, 

 is a good motto, but prune annually. Do not 

 allow suckers or limbs that are crossing each 

 other to grow several years before they are 

 removed. SuflFer the shoots that start out in 

 spring to remain until the leaves have fallen in 

 autumn and then cut them smoothly off. The 

 tree needs them for a time, and Nature, ever 

 ready with a helping hand, sends them out to 

 aid the leaves of the top in elaborating the 

 sap and increasing the whole growth of the 

 tree. 



As to the best time for pruning apple trees 

 we have not a particle of doubt. From a long 

 series of personal experiments running through 

 twenty years, from reliable books recording 

 the experience of others, conversations with 

 practical men and an extensive examination of 

 orchards, we are fully of the opinion that the 

 middle of the month of June is the most ap- 

 propriate time. But as the ground is covered 

 with grass or other crops at that season, 

 and hoeing and other work is pressing, it is 

 not always convenient to engage in it then. 

 The next best time is in October, after the 

 tr^es have shed ihe<r leaves ; and this may be 

 uxtt-ndid into Nowmher or December, Tf the 

 operator can keep himrielf sufficiently warm to 

 do the work well. 



Where we have carefully pruned at either 

 of these times it has seldom been followed by 

 a Howing of the sap, and the black discolora- 

 tion of the bark which so often follows spring 

 pruning. The wounds become dry and hard 

 on the surface, a lively growth commences in 

 a few weeks if the pruning is done in June, 

 and early in the following spring if the work is 

 done in the fall, and the tree seems to sustain 

 no check or injury whatever. 



The question may be asked. Why is it best 

 to prune at the seasons toentioned ? We an- 

 swer, because the tree is then in a compara- 

 tive state of rest. The sap has ascended 

 through the sap vessels in the trunk, followed 

 out the extremity of ihe smallest twigs, and 

 into the leaves, there to be worked over by 

 the wonderful alchemy of Nature into a thicker 

 and more substantial substance. This thick- 

 ened, or inspissated sap, as it is called, then 

 passes down directly under the bark, and gives 

 the trunk and branches their annual growth in 

 diameter. Now, then, when the tubes or sap 

 vessels are nearly empty, or are comparatively 

 so, is the time to prune. This occurs, for 

 about fifteen days in midsummer, and after the 

 trees have cast their leaves in autumn, until a 

 succession of sunny and warm days sets the 

 sap in motion again. Such days occur some- 

 time in mid-winter, and it would then be unfa- 

 vorable for pruning. 



• In pruning in June or October the saw soon 

 becomes so much covered with gum that it is 

 moved with difficulty, and it becomes necessary 

 to wash it. This has never occurred in March, 

 April, or May, in our experience. The sap is 

 then thin and abundant, and the saw remains 

 clean and bright. 



In pruning the aim should be to keep the 

 head of the tree open to the air and light, 

 and free from limbs that are crossing and rub- 

 bing against each other. Cut out these and 

 the occasional dead limbs which may be found 

 and the orchard which has been w§ll managed 

 will need little more in the way of priming. 

 Each tree should be examined annually, and 

 whatever is needed for it, done. 



— Alexander Hyde, of Lee, has been invited to 

 deliver a course of twelve lectures on agriculture, 

 this winter, before the Lowell Institute at Bo'^ton. 

 This gentleman delivered an able addiess before 

 the Hoosac Valley Agricultural Society at their 

 fall meeting. 



