134 



PRUNING 



be obliged to recommend an imported article ; perhaps the writer 

 has been unfortunate in the American shears he has used, but he 

 has tried many makes and none of them have stood up under hard 

 usage like this French make. In buying such shears get good- 

 sized ones for heavy work. A ten-inch size of this pattern is none 

 too large when one is going to do a lot of heavy pruning. For 

 example : A foreman of a pruning gang used one of these ten- 



Fni. 64. — A good type of pruning knife. Long 

 lioulied blade and large enough for lieavy work. 



Fig. 65. — A good oonibination knife; 



l)runuig, budding and 



ordinary blades. 



inch shears for pruning three thousand peach trees four and five 

 years old, and an equal number of apple trees from one to five 

 years; after all this pruning the shears were in good working order. 

 A good knife completes the outfit for most work. A heavy 

 knife, with a wide blade and a hook on the end of the blade, is 

 best. The one shown in Figure 64 suits the work admirably, 

 though a man will use a pair of shears a thousand times for every 

 time he uses a knife. The second knife shown in Figure 65 is a 

 good one, with a budding blade and an ordinary blade, in addi- 

 tion to the pruner. Where a man wants to do various things with 

 the knife it is probably worth having. Usually, the workman pre- 

 fers to have his blade in different handles, and carry only the 

 type of knife for which he has immediate use. 



