PRUNING. 91 



should go to work with great caution. It will be better 

 to oj^erate too lightly than too severely. As regards the 

 season, it may be 23erformed either at the end of the first 

 growth, in July or August, or in the autumn or winter, 

 when vegetation is quite suspended. We have operated 

 on cherry trees with complete success in August, in a dry 

 time, when little growth was going on. At this season, a 

 copious watering should be given after the pruning is per- 

 formed. 



Imj)lements of pruning, and the mode of using them, 

 will be treated of in the chapter on implements, to be 

 given hereafter. 



The Season foi' Priming. — We are not permitted to be 

 very definite on this point. The climate, the nature of 

 the species, etc., control the period of pruning to a great 

 extent. In the south, what we term the winter ]3runing — 

 that performed during the dormant season — may be done 

 very soon after the fall of the leaf. In the north, it is 

 deferred to February, March, and even April. Li western 

 l^ew York, we piTine apples^ pears^ and other hardy fruits, 

 as soon as our severe frosts are over- — say the latter end 

 of February and beginning of March. If pruned sooner, 

 the ends of the shoots are liable to be injured, and the 

 terminal bud so weakened as not to fulfil its purposes. 

 Besides, the wounds do not heal well. 



Th.Q peach we prune just as the buds begin to swell. 

 The fruit and leaf buds are then easily distinguished 

 from one another, and the objects of the pruning are ac- 

 complished with more precision. 



Grapes may be pruned any time in the winter, as a 

 portion of wood is always left above the bud. Goose- 

 berries and currants also, any time in winter. The 

 stone fruits should always be lightly pruned, because 

 severe amputations almost invariably produce the gum, 

 "Where it is absolutely necessary in the spring, the wound 



