io4 flit: FARM: 



and sunlight to have free access to it on all sides, it will round out and de- 

 velop its full proportions, and if it does not actually attain it, will approjd- 

 mate its typical form. Where the lower limbs are in the way, of course they 

 must be sacrificed; but where they are not, leave them, and you will have a 

 finer and more thrifty tree. If a limb, as is often the case with the elm in 

 our dry soil, extends beyond the rest, absorbing the strength and destroying 

 the symmetry of the tree, it should be cut back while yet small. 



The soft maple often throws out hmbs that have no firm attachments to 

 the body, and they will sooner or later split off; these should be removed 

 while small. The idea of cutting back the top of a soft maple, or any other 

 tree, to prevent it from becoming top heavy, is fallacious; it reUeves for the 

 time, but makes it worae afterward. If a soft maple, as some of them will 

 do, breaks bodily, and continues to do so, it is better to remove it and plant 

 another in its place. Severe praning lowers the vitality of any ordinary tree, 

 making it less able to bear the drouth and heat of summer and the cold of 

 winter, and leaving it an easy prey to borers and other noxious insects. 



As a strong man is able to resist disease, so a vigoi-ous tree is able to re- 

 sist the attacks of its enemies, while a feeble one succumbs. 



So far as possible all limbs should be removed while small. It is rarely 

 necessary to cut a large limb from a tree that has been properly cared for. 



TUe Be^it Time to Prune Fruit Trees.— -The correct principles which 

 underUe the pruning of fruit trees are probably as imperfectly understood 

 as any other point in fruit-gromng. Most people prune in the spring, some 

 through the winter, others in the summer. Now, after careftiUy observing 

 the effects of pruning done at different seasons, I have come to the conclu- 

 sion that the best time to prune is in early summer, after the fii-st rush of 

 sap is past, and before the trees have made much growth of new wood. 



WTien trees are pruned in winter, a considerable time must elapse before 



the wounds made begin to heal over. During this time the combined action 



of the frost and sun are injurious to the newly-cut and exposed wood and 



bark, and it will take a longer time to heal over than if the wound was made 



f^i the time when the tree was beginning to make new growth. 



When trees are pruned in early spring, the sap is then in a thin, watery 

 state; it oozes out of the cut, causing premature decay and peimanent in- 

 jury to the tree. 



When trees are pruned in early summer, after the rush of thin, watery 

 sap is past and the tree has fairly commenced to make a new growth, the 

 wounds will commence at once to heal over. The exposed wood will remain 

 sound for a longer period than if cut in early spring. 



Another very important point in early summer pruning is, it does not 

 check the growth of the tree, as when it is done later in the season. 



Some advocate pruning in July and August, but I would only prime then 

 in cases where the tree was making too much wood growth, which I wanted 

 to check and tlu'ow the tree into a bearing state. 



Another very important point in pi-uning, and yet one which is very much 

 neglected, is to cover the cuts with some substance to protect them from the 

 influence of the weather. Common gi-afting wax, or a mixture of clay and 

 cow manure, is beneficial; but perhaps the best thing, when it can be got 

 pure and good, is gum shellac dissolved in alcohol to the consistency of 

 paint. A protectiou of this kind is always beneficial to newly-pruned trees; 

 it neutralizes to a great extent the injurious effects arising from pruning 

 iMes at an improper season. 



