ORCHARDS. 



thick does not flow from the wounds, and thereby impair the health of the 

 plant' Summer pruning should not be performed, however, before July, when 

 the new growth has considerably advanced. It may be well to add, as this 



to winter pruning: ana OANG suspends pruning irom me ue^iuuiug 01 r eo- 

 ruary, to the middle of July, but carries it on during every other month of the 

 year." 



In regard to evergreens, which with us are confined princi- 

 pally to resinous trees, it is the general practice of nurserymen, 

 and I think it a judicious one, not to prune them until they 

 have acquired some years' growth, and then but sparingly, and 

 at long intervals, displacing two or three tiers of the lower 

 branches every two or three years. MONTEITH says, "never 

 cut off a branch until it has begun to rot, as the bleeding of a 

 live branch will go far to kill the tree." 



The implements employed in pruning, and the manner of 

 using them, are matters of moment. If the operation is com- 

 menced vvhen the tree is young, and judiciously followed up, 

 a good knife, a small saw, and a chisel fixed on a six foot 

 handle, to trim the tops and extremities of the branches, are 

 all the tools that are required. A large saw will be occasion- 

 ally wanted; but an axe or hatchet should never be employed, 

 as they fracture the wood, bruise and tear the bark, and dis- 

 figure the tree. 



Diseases of Fruit Trees. Fruit trees, like other produc- 

 tions of the vegetable kingdom, have their enemies and their 

 diseases. All excesses of heat or cold, wetness or dryness, are 

 unfriendly to them; sometimes wholly destroying their fertility 

 for the season; at others seriously injuring it, and occasionally, 

 though rarely, disorganizing the trees themselves. 



Many insects also prey upon them, attacking their leaves, 

 blossoms, fruit, bark, or roots. 



But after all, may not our own negligence be considered as 

 the most fruitful source of many others of a similar kind? We 

 often find their bark covered and coloured with parasites, in 

 the form of moss, lichens, and smut, which a small degree of 

 labour and a little whitewash would entirely and promptly re- 

 move. We often see the ravages made on their leaves and 

 fruit buds, by caterpillars of different names and appearances, 

 when if we visited them at day-break, all would be found at 

 home and asleep, and entirely within our reach. And lastly, 

 we often see wounds inflicted on stems and branches (under 

 the name of pruning), left open to the alternate action of air 

 and frost, and sunshine, and thus occasion fatal consequences, 

 when a cheap and simple covering (a mixture of clay and cow 

 dung) would prevent the difficulty. 



There cannot be a doubt that many of the evils above re- 



