244 



NEW ENGLAXD FARMER. 



May 



PRUNING. 



The object and the true manner of pruninf^ 

 fruit trees are still imperfi'Ctly understood. We 

 have expressed our own opinions so many times, 

 that we will not now repeat them, but quote some 

 others who are authorities in this matter. The 

 subject is suggested to us by noticing the ground 

 in some orchards strewed with limbs cut off late 

 in March. 



Professor LiNDLEY says — "The object of the 

 pruner is to diminish the number of leaves and 

 branches ; whence it may be at once understood 

 how delicate are the operations the operator has 

 to practice, and how thorough a knowledge he 

 ought to possess of all the laws which regulate 

 the action of the organs of vegetation. If well 

 directed, pruning is one of the most useful, and 

 if ill-dircctcd, it is among the most mischievous, 

 operations that can take place upon a plant. 



''When a portion of a healthy plant is cut off, 

 all that sap which would have been expended in 

 supporting the part removed is directed into the 

 parts which remain, and more especially into 

 those in the immediate vicinity of it. 



* * * * "Nothing is more strict- 

 ly to be guarded against than the disposition to 

 bleed which occurs in some plants when pruned, 

 and to such an extent as to threaten them with 

 death. • ♦ * jf tjjjg jg allowed to continue, 

 the system becomes so exhausted as to be unable 

 to recover from the shock, and the plant will 

 either become very unhealthy, or will die. The 

 only mode of avoiding it is to take care never to 

 wound such trees at the time when their sap first 

 begins to flow ; after a time, the demand upon the 

 system by the leaves becomes so great that there is 

 no surplus, and therefore bleeding does not take 

 place when a wound is inflicted." 



This is one reason why we recommend pruning 

 in June ; the leaves have then appropriated the 

 sap, leaving the wood comparatively free from it, 

 60 that where limbs are cut they do not bleed. 



Prof. LiNOLEY continues : — "The season for 

 pruning is usually midwinter, or at midsummer. 

 • • * During the season of rest (winter) a 

 plant continues to absorb food solely from the 

 earth by ite roots ; and if its branches are un- 

 pruncd, the sap thus and then introduced into 

 the system will be distributed equally all through 

 it. If late pruning (that is, spring, not winter,) 

 is had recourse to, of course a large proportion of 

 the sap that has been accumulating during the 

 winter will be thrown away." 



On all matters of this nature, Downing is re- 

 ceived as a safe guide, — let us see what he says 

 in relation to the particular time for pruning. 

 He and LiNDLEY, both speak of winter pruning. 

 We will not dwell upon this, because in our se- 

 vere climate, this practice is hardly resorted to 



by farmers. In his "Fruits and Fruit Trees of 

 America," Downing says : "T/ig best season for 

 priming to promote grotvth, theoretically, is in 

 autumn, soon after the fall of the leaf. Next to 

 this, winter pruning, performed in mild weather, 

 is best. In all parts of the country where the 

 winters are not very severe, the roots are collect- 

 ing a stock of nourishment during the whole au- 

 tumn and winter. When a tree is pruned in au- 

 tumn or winter this whole supply goes to the re- 

 maining branches, while in case of spring pruning 

 it is partly lost. 



"We should especially avoid pruning at that 

 period in spring when the buds are swelling, and 

 the sap is in full flow, as the loss of sap by bleed- 

 ing is very injurious to most trees, and in some, 

 brings on a serious and incurable canker in the 

 buds. 



"There are advantages and disadvantages at- 

 tending all seasons of pruning, but our own expe- 

 rience has led us to believe that, practically, a. fort- 

 night before midsummer IS by far the best sea- 

 son, on the whole, for pinning in the Northern 

 and Middle States. Wounds made at this sea- 

 son heal over freely and rapidly ; it is the most 

 favorable time to judge of the shape and balance 

 of the head, and to see at a glance which branches 

 require removal ; and all the stock of organizable 

 matter in the tree is directed to the branches that 

 remain. 



In Thomas's "Fruit Culturist," an excellent 

 work, we find the following paragraph : 



"Season for Pruning. — Thinning out the heads 

 of old trees, or heading back for grafting, may 

 be performed in autumn or winter, and on young- 

 er trees, just before midsummer, when, the tree 

 being in a growing state, the operator can judge 

 better of the shape the head is assuming, and act 

 accordingly ; and the wounds are soon healed by 

 new wood. 



In his "American Fruit Book," Cole says : 



"Slight pruning, in which very small limbs, or 

 dead limbs of any size, are removed, may be per- 

 formed when most convenient in any season. 

 Moderate pruning should be done in June, July 

 or August, though it will answer very well till 

 December. If trees are pruned in July or August 

 or September, the wood will become hard, sound 

 and well seasoned, and commence healing over ; 

 and it is not material, otherwise than for appear- 

 ance, whether it heals over the first, second or 

 third year, as it will remain in a healthy state. 



"We should prefer October, November or even 

 December to the spring, which is the worst sea- 

 son. The trees then are full of sap, and it oozes 

 out at the wound, which turns black and decays, 

 like a tree cut in the spring and allowed to re- 

 tain the bark. Rut if limbs, ever so large, are 

 cut in August and September, the wood will be- 

 come hard and remain so, if it never heals over. 



"Thirty-two years ago, in September, we cut a 

 very large branch from an apple-tree, on account 

 of injury by a gale. The tree was old, and it has 



