260 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



The season for pruning has been made the subject of 

 much discussion, and different periods have been very 

 confidently advised by different authorities, from which it 

 may safely be inferred that all are somewhat right, or may 

 be supported by good reasons. This refers of course to 

 pruning in its general sense, of trimming, and applies to 

 the removal of limbs of greater or less size. We always 

 desire to avoid the removal of large limbs, and should en- 

 deavor to provide against the necessity of such removal, 

 by trimming our orchards sufficiently when they are 

 young, and while the branches are small ; but when such 

 removal becomes absolutely necessary, it should be per- 

 formed late in the autumn, when vegetation is at rest, be- 

 cause it is found that such large wounds, which cannot be 

 soon healed over by the new growth, will at this season 

 dry in, and resist the action of the elements better than 

 if the section had been made when the wood was full of 

 sap in active circulation. 



Early spring is a favorite period for pruning, chiefly 

 because it is comparatively a period of leisure; the 

 weather is less inclement than in winter, and the absence 

 of foliage affords us an opportunity to see our work and 

 to anticipate its effects upon the tree. So soon as the buds 

 begin to swell and the foliage to expand, pruning should 

 be arrested, unless in small trees, because the sap is in ac- 

 tive motion, and the material called cambium is not yet 

 developed, hence the wounds will bleed, and are not so 

 readily healed over ; besides, the bark at this season is very 

 readily separated from the wood, and bad wounds are thus 

 frequently produced by the pruner, which may seriously 

 damage the tree. Then follows a period when pruning had 



