ORCHARDS. 



6. Prune in the summer. 



He then proceeds to offer his reasons for the rules here re- 

 commended: 



First, The food required to nourish the lateral useless branches, will go to 

 increase the diameter and height of the plant, or swell the fruit, if these are 

 judiciously removed. But a main consideration is, that the excision of small 

 branches causes only small wounds, and small wounds speedily heal. The 

 observation ui tins rule, therefore, facilitates growth, promotes health, and 

 ultimately saves labour. 



Secondly. This rule needs very little argument to enforce its propriety, as 

 every observer must have frequently seen and lamented the ruinous effects of 

 an opposite practice. The snags either send out useless spray, or deprived of 

 the feeble aid of these, they die and rot, and carry disease into the bole, and 

 are thus oAeu the cause of the premature loss of the tree. If cut close, the en- 

 largement of the living wood soon covers the wound. In large branches, 

 where the saw must be used, the healing process is greatly facilitated by 

 parin? the cut, particularly the exterior edges, with the pruning knife; and it 

 is a good precaution, before you use the saw, to notch under the intended cut, 

 to prevent tearing the bark when the limb falls. In extirpating sprouts from 

 the roots, (and neither they nor those growing from the bole should be suffer- 

 ed long to remain,) the like precaution of cutting close should be observed; for 

 which purpose it is necessary first to remove the earth from about the collar, 

 with the spade or other instrument. 



Thirdly, The reasons for pruning a tree while young, apply here: it is 

 easier to cut small than large limbs, and the wounds of the former soon heal. 

 But the question presents, what limbs are to be cull Generally all that are 

 likely to cross each other, all feeble spray, the strongest on the bole, and the 

 weakest in the top; for while the trees are in nursery, I think it serviceable to 

 leave a few scattering laterals upon the bole, and it is beneficial, at all ages, to 

 thin most kinds in the top. Yet the answer to the inquiry will depend princi- 

 pally upon the species of tree, and the design of the planter. If his object be 

 timber, the leading shoot should be feathered up in a spiral form, and all other 

 shoots likely to interfere with its growth be cut away. If the object be fruit, 

 beauty and utility are to be consulted, and these seldom are incompatible in 

 the eyes of a fruit grower, for with him productiveness constitutes beauty. If 

 ornament be the main consideration, no special directions can be given, as the 

 species employed, the location, and the taste and fancy of the planter, will 

 have a controlling influence. The rule for timber trees will not apply to either 

 those destined for fruit or ornament. 



In orchard and garden fruit, generally, the endeavour should 

 be to obtain a low and spreading top. When a clean bole is 

 obtained to a sufficient height, say, in the orchard, of seven or 

 eight feet, and in the garden, according to fancy, the leading 

 shoot should be cut in, and three or four more branches left to 

 form the head; which, when the habit of the tree will permit 

 it, should be pruned so as to give it a besom form, or that of a 

 broom divested of its centre. Several advantages arise from 

 this and a more extended form. It admits the air more freely, 

 to mature the fruit and wood; it renders the trees less liable to 

 be blown down; it facilitates the gathering of the fruit, and the 

 pruning of the tree. But its principal advantage consists in its 

 tendency to increase oviparous or fruit buds, and consequently 

 to augment the fruit. A great growth of wood seems to be in- 

 compatible with a great crop of fruit, and vice versa. A cow 

 that gives much milk seldom takes on much flesh during the 



