Principles and Practice of Pruning. 91 



market, gives the following excellent practical directions for pruning 

 the trees, suited to orchard management : 



" Experience has convinced me, that with good trees of well 

 chosen varieties, on any good corn land which is never too wet ; 

 and with the culture a good farmer gives his other crops, and the 

 important nay more, the indispensable requisite to success 

 thorough pruning, no one need fail of attaining a degree of success 

 highly satisfactory and profitable. 



" A dwarf pear-tree should never be planted at one year old. A 

 good one-year-old tree consists of a single upright shoot or stem, 

 from three and one-half to five feet high, and should be cut off at 

 about two feet from the ground ; and in order to give a smooth, 

 handsome stem or trunk, let the buds be rubbed off to the height of 

 one foot from the ground leaving on the upper portion six to nine 

 buds, more or less ; with the tree standing in its original position in 

 full vigor, and cut back as above stated, each one of these buds will 

 throw out a good strong branch, which gives a full round distaff form 

 to the tree ; and this is the time and manner, and the only time, when 

 that desirable shape can be given, on which the future form of sym- 

 metry and beauty so much depends ; and to avoid a fork-topped 

 tree, in which the two uppermost branches are about of equal vigor 

 and height, let the second branch from the top be pinched off, when 

 about nine inches or a foot long, which will check and weaken it, 

 while the uppermost one becomes a strong central leader. Whereas, 

 if the tree be transplanted at one year old, and cut back as above 

 stated, the vital forces of the tree will be weakened half or three- 

 fourths by transplanting, and, as the result, only two or three 

 (more or less) of the buds on the trunk will grow so as to 

 form branches, and they, perhaps, only at the top or all on one 

 side, while the remaining buds remain dormant, never afterwards 

 to be developed, as the other branches form new channels, which 

 will more readily carry the sap to the other and upper portions of 

 the tree. 



" For transplanting, therefore, let a tree be two years old from 

 the bud, well cut back at one year old, and with six to nine main 

 branches, which form the framework or foundation, which is to give 

 form and character to the future tree, with proper care and man- 

 agement. 



"The following cut (Fig. 118) will illustrate a two-year-old tree, as 

 above described, its lower branches about one foot from the ground, 

 its upper branches being the strongest and most upright, and those 

 below less vigorous and more horizontal. 



