POMOLOGY, GARDENING, FORESTRY, HORTICULTURE, RURAL ARCHITECTURE, BEES. 



Vol. II. Des Moines, Iowa; Leavenworth, Kan, Jan., 1871. No. i 



MARK MILLER, 

 Fdilor nn(t Publisher, - - Des Moin-ex, Iowa. 



m J. STAYMAN, 

 Amocia/e t'difot, - - Leavenworth, Kansas. 



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Sbonid Tree* be Pruned? No. 1. 



By the Associate Editor. 



This very important question, should trees be 

 pruned ? appears to be simple and readily answered. 

 But should we carefully consider the purpose for 

 which they are pruned and the immediate and future 

 effect produced thereby, it would be Tery difficult to 

 give a ready and reasonable reply. We are tenac- 

 ious of well established opinions sanctioned by long 

 usage. We look upon innovation with prejudice 

 however true and philosophical it may be. This 

 has been the fate of almost every progressive idea, 

 and fortuuate is the person who escapes its anathema. 

 We were brought up in the school of popular opin- 

 ion and taught to prune for/or»», for vigor, for tnood, 

 for fruit, for lieidth, and finally for to transplant suc- 

 cessfully. We spent almost a life-time in its practice 

 and enforcing its precepts. How plain and simple 

 appeared its philo.sophy! Who could doubt its 

 teaching when he had the living specimens before 

 him? 



"Oh vain man that thou art," having but one side 



of the question before you, how could you see the 

 result of the opposite? Like the physician who had 

 just completed his course of instruction, takes his 

 lancet and pill-bag in hand an.xiously looking for a 

 case that he may display his skill, giving all the 

 credit to his timel}' aid, never thinking that nature 

 performed tlw cure in spite of his metliciue. To fully 

 show the state of the public mind upon this suliject 

 we will give an extract of a di.scussiou thattookplace 

 at Philadelphia, before the Peun.sylvania Horticul- 

 tural Society, Feb., 51h, 1807, after the reading of 

 our essay on the "Philosophy of Pruning " in Garde- 

 ner's Monthly, April, 1867. "Dr. Stayman's essay was 

 listened to by a large and intelligent audience, at the 

 Hail of the Horticultural Society, and at its close, a 

 very animated discussion ensued, which we regret 

 that our space will not allow our giving in full. 

 Every speaker however united in disagreeing with 

 Dr. Stayman, that pruning at transplanting was an 

 injury. It was the opinion of the whole of them in 

 a large number of cases, pruning at transplanting 

 was the only way to save the lives of trees that had 

 been injured in digging- The instances cited by 

 Dr. Stayman, of trees dj'ing which were pruned, and 

 of those living when unpi'uned, seemed to stagger 

 the speakers, but it was so opposed to their experi- 

 ence' that they argued there must have been some 

 difference beside the pruning, overlooked by Dr. 

 Stayman ; and others argued, perhaps the Kansas 

 district has some peculiar action. The proposition 

 of Dr. S. that pruning weakens vitality in some de- 

 grees, and often to an injurious extent, also interest- 

 ed the speakers, a majority of whom sustained this 

 view of the essayist, although to many of them it 

 was presented for the fir.st time in this shape. The 

 essay was considered one of the most valuable con- 

 tributed to the Society, and though so many disa- 

 greed with some of the views expressed, the tlianks 

 of the meeting were unanimously voted to the auth- 

 or for his very suggestive essay." 



Here we have the most able and intelligent Horti- 

 cultural Society oppose our views of not priming at 

 transplanting, although in other instances they ad- 

 mit " pruning weakens vitality in some degree." No 



