Pruning. 255 



(416 a), and those that interfere by too close contact 

 should be cut back in proportion to the interference. 



Scraping off the dead bark scales from old fruit trees 

 tends to remove certain destructive insects or their 

 eggs. It should be done during the growing season, and 

 a short-handled hoe or a box-scraper is convenient for 

 the work. Trees subject to sun- scald should generally 

 not be scraped unless other trunk protection is given. 



D MATURATIVE PRUNING 



430. a Pruning to hasten maturity. This is seldom 

 practiced. In nursery trees that tend to grow too late, 

 and are thus subject to winter killing, the leaves are 

 sometimes removed two or three weeks before the time 

 when hard frosts are expected, to encourage ripening of 

 the wood. 



The later tobacco plants in a plantation are usually 

 topped at the time the main crop is pushing the flower 

 stalk, which causes their leaves to mature in season to 

 be harvested with the rest of the crop. 



b Pruning to retard maturity, see (159). 



431. The Principal Pruning Implements are the following: 

 The pruning knife (Fig. 166) is useful for removing 



small woody shoots. The blade should be of good steel, 

 and the point should curve forward a little, to prevent 

 the edge from slipping oif the branch. The handle 

 should be large to avoid blistering the hand, the base 

 of the blade should be thick to furnish a support for the 

 thumb, and the rivet should be strong enough to sustain 

 hard pressure upon the handle. 



In using the pruning knife, the shoot to be cut off 

 should generally be pressed with one hand toward the 



