118 



Pruning Fruit- Trees. 



Vol. V. 



mations, " remarks on the close-pruning and 

 medicating fruit-trees," taken from the " Or- 

 chardist," by Mr. Bucknall. Z. 



" The management of orchards is capable 

 of being reduced to a system under a few 

 general heads concentrated in the principle 

 of making every tree in the orchard healthy, 

 round, large and beautiful : due pruning 

 would prevent the speckled and stunted fruits, 

 occasioned by the trees being overloaded with 

 wood, which obstructs the rays of the sun and 

 causes a vapour, the cold whereof stunts the 

 fruit in its first growth. 



Pruning with judgment, brings trees to 

 bear sooner, and continue in vigour nearly 

 double their common age; no branch is ever 

 to be shortened, unless for the figure of the 

 tree, and then, let it be close at the separa- 

 tion or fork. The more the range of the 

 branches shoot circularly, and a little inclin- 

 ing upwards,* the more equally will the sap 

 be distributed, and the better will the tree 

 bear ; let not the ranges of branches be too 

 near each other, as all the fruit and leaves 

 should have their full share of the sun ; and 

 whenever it suits, let the middle of the tree 

 be pretty free from wood, so that no branch 

 cross another, but all the extreme ends point 

 outward : your neighbour saying, " your trees 

 are handsome, but too thin of wood," is a 

 high compliment, for such trees will gain the 

 best price for the fruit at market — a sure test 

 of perfection, 



A young orchard was planted in a rich soil, 

 and it throve luxuriantly ; such vigorous 

 growth occasioned an early decay of the 

 trees, from the wind splitting them ; and the 

 wood being soft, concurred to injure tliem : 

 the injudicious manner in which those lace- 

 rated branches were removed, added to the 

 evil ; and these wounds became filled with ver- 

 min, which obstructed the healing, by their 

 eating and fretting the bark; the branches 

 were so intermixed and entangled together 

 as to cut each other, and cause wounds and 

 blotches, which, on the return of the sap in 

 the spring, affected the leaves, and inclined 

 them to curl ; in this state of the orchard, 

 Mr. Bucknal, in the month of November, un- 

 dertook to improve it, which he did by taking 

 off the branches carefully by a saw, and after- 

 wards smoothing the parts with the knife, and 

 as the bark can never grow over a stump, he 

 cut a little within the wood, the rule being to 

 cut quick, close, and clean. 



At the time of pruning, he and his assist- 

 ant would first walk round the tree, he would 

 then point out every branch that required re- 

 moving ; those with the leaves much curled, 



* This will depend upon the nature of the tree ; if 

 that he droopin;;, with long, pendent branches, the ob 

 servation cannot apply. 



which are accompanied with specky fruit, and 

 all having the least tendency to cross the tree 

 or run inwards: all these were taken off", and 

 then he attended to the beauty of the head, 

 leaving all the branches as nearly equidistant j 

 as possible ; next, he examined if there were 

 any remaining blotches, and these he opened 

 with the knife, and where the bark was rag- 

 ged from laceration, pared it gently down, 

 until he came to the live wood ; each of these 

 wounds was then touched over with the medi- 

 cated tar, which was prepared as follows: 

 half an ounce of corrosive sublimate, reduced 

 to a fine powder, put into a three pint earthen 

 pipkin, with a glass of spirit, (gin or whiskey) 

 and stirred well together until the sublimate 

 is dissolved : the pipkin is then filled by de- 

 grees with tar and constantly stirred, until ^ 

 the mixture is as intimately blended as possi- 

 ble; this quantity being sufficient for 200 

 trees: for giving more body to this mixture, 

 powdered fuller's earth or clay might be 

 added. 



Never attempt to force a tree to grow 

 higher than it is disposed to go, but keep the 

 branches out of the reach of cattle as much 

 as possible, then let them follow their natural 

 growth : in general, prune the trees as soon 

 as the fruit is removed, that the wounds may- 

 tend towards healing, before the frosts set in; 

 the medicated tar will, however, protect them 

 greatly. The substantial form of the tree 

 will be the same after as before the pruning; 

 it will be nearly of the same size, and the 

 extreme shoots will be kept at the same dis- 

 tance ; in common pruning, the heads of the 

 trees are too often left in a mutilated and de- 

 caying state. 



AUtrees should be pruned in the nursery 

 the year before they are removed, leaving 

 their heads to three or four good leading 

 shoots ; by pruning thus in the nursery the 

 year preceding the removal of the trees, you 

 will preclude the necessity of pruning for 

 some time, giving the wounds time to heal ; 

 plant none that are galled or cankered, re- 

 move carefully ; prepare stakes the day be- 

 fore, and stake and tie every tree before leav- 

 ing. Shelter, by trees, on the exposed sides 

 of the orchard is requisite; and plant not too 

 Jeep, many ills arise from that: prevent the 

 young trees from bearing too soon ; graze and 

 manure the orchard, hogs being the best stock 

 for that purpose. Moss is oftentimes the re- 

 sult of poverty and neglect, and reflects dis- 

 credit on the owner;* in a wet day, one man 

 and a stiff" broom can do great execution 

 amongst the moss, and it is a good practice to 

 wash the stem and branches, spring and au- 

 tumn, with soap and water and a brush; The 



* Moss is often the effect of a wet and poisonous sub- 

 soil : in that case the ground should be trenched and 

 dressed with a heavy coat of lime on the surface. 



