278 PROPER PERIOD FOR PRUNING. 



juices peculiar to the vegetable. Hence the difference of time 

 observed in the writings of the different individuals upon this 

 subject, who have, no doubt, been guided in their choice by 

 the effect of climate upon the production of early and late 

 vegetation. Some insist it should be done about the middle 

 of October, or at the fall of the leaf, ' rather than defer it till 

 spring, because the tender parts of those young shoots, if left 

 on, are subject to decay in winter, or they are apt to grow late 

 in the year, so the tops of the shoots are tender, and early 

 frosts will pinch them, and then they frequently are killed down 

 a considerable length, which weakens their roots ; but if they 

 are cut off early in autumn^ the wound will heal over before 

 bad weather, and thereby the roots will be greatly strengthen- 

 ed.' On the other side, the advocates for spring pruning, 

 tell us the proper time for this operation, in the middle states, 

 is the latter end of February, or first week in March, much 

 earlier in the southern states, and very little later in the eastern. 

 Forsyth cautions us not to prune till the beginning of Febru- 

 ary, unless in case of an uncommon forwardness in the season. 

 It is common, he continues, with some, to begin pruning soon 

 after the fall of the leaf, before the wood becomes hard ; but 

 if the frost set in before the wood is hard, especially after wet 

 summers and autumns, it will be much injured. He has seen 

 vines almost killed after autumnal pruning. In the Vine- 

 dresser's Manual, by Thiebaut de Berneaud, it is remarked, 

 ' that the principal point is to know and seize the right time 

 for pruning. To do it too soon advances vegetation and ex- 

 poses the young buds to the nipping of the cold, or even 

 spring frosts ; if too late, it retards the development of the 

 buds, and perhaps destroys the fruit buds by their becoming 

 drenched with the bleeding sap during the night ; or perhaps 

 a late frost happens, and finds the retarded sprouts so backward 

 and tender that it will entirely destroy them. In some warm 

 countries, some pruning should be performed after the fall of 

 the leaf; it gives the grape a greater chance for ripening and 

 becoming sugary ; but to prune in fall or beginning of the 

 winter in cold countries, is imprudent : it is proper to wait 



