HO PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING. 



must be kept to them, and the necessary rubbing and pinch- 

 ing performed, that they do not outgrow the others. 



Pruning the Quince. Young quince-trees, as sold by nurs- 

 erymen in this country, have, in many instances, received 

 no pruning or training, and resemble Fig. 156. To give them 

 a single straight stem, and to impart sufficient vigor to form 

 a good well-balanced head, such trees should be cut down 

 near the ground as soon as they become well established, and 

 a single upright shoot allowed to grow for the future tree 

 (Fig. 157). The second year a good 

 head may be commenced, according 

 to the directions given for the dwarf 

 apple. 



Special directions for pruning the 

 Grape, Raspberry, Blackberry, Goose- 

 berry, and Currant will be found in 

 the chapters devoted to these dif- 

 ferent fruits. 



Trees which are kept in good 

 shape while young will not require 

 heavy pruning in after years. But 

 orchards rarely receive this perfect 

 management, and more or less prun- 

 ing occasionally becomes necessary. 

 The owner is often unable to attend 

 in person to all the details, or to di- 

 rect the laborer in the removal of 

 each successive limb. 



To obviate this difficulty, attach a 

 cylinder of chalk to a rod several 

 feet in length, in the manner repre- 

 sented in Fig. 158, and taking this 

 rod in the hand, make a distinct 

 white chalk-mark, at the precise 

 spot where the pruning-saw is to cut through for the removal 

 of the rejected branch. The workman follows with the saw, 

 and cuts off every branch at the right place, with greater ac- 

 curacy than verbal directions could point out, and without 

 hesitation or delay. The owner may mark out enough work 

 with the chalk in an hour to occupy the laborer through the 



FIG. 158. To mark the limbs 

 to be cut. 



