1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



217 



Far the New England Farmer. 



PKOPEB, TIME TO PKUNE FRUIT 

 TREES. 



Mu. Editok: — I have derived much pleasure 

 and benefit from reading the different views of 

 writers in the N. E. Farmer pertaining to the 

 same branch of agriculture. For a feAV years past, 

 much has been -written and said by yourself and 

 others, in i-egard to the best season to prune fruit 

 trees, and from what I could gather from others, 

 and experiments of my own, I had become pretty 

 well convinced that the best time to prune was 

 the latter part of June, or the first of July. But 

 in reading the discussions of the Legislative Agri- 

 cultural Society, in the Farmer, recently, I confess 

 that I felt somewhat nonplussed to find such 

 thorough practical men as Marshall P. Wilder and 

 A. G. Sheldon pronounce March the best time for 

 pruning. I should have been gratified if they had 

 more fully given their reasons for their conclu- 

 sions. Mr. Sheldon said he had sawed a limb 

 from his tree each month, and found March the 

 best time. Now, Mr. Editor, I have tried the 

 same experiments, and have come to a different 

 conclusion. I have found where a limb was sawed 

 off in March, before it would begin to heal over 

 the wound, the stump would get seared so that it 

 would not commence to grow over immediately at 

 the end of the stump, but often one-fourth or one- 

 half inch down from the end ; but where I have 

 sawed them from the same tree in the same year, 

 and as near as possible the same size limbs, I have 

 found the stump or wound, where the Umb was 

 sawed off in June, to heal over, often in one, and 

 sometimes in two or three years sooner than those 

 cut off in March. 



I think there are some arguments in favor of 

 winter or early spring pruning. We generally 

 have more leisure, can get at thfi, work easier, are 

 less liable to damage other crops, and perhaps a 

 saving of the sap which would go to nourish the 

 tree, lost in the limb if left until June. I have 

 found it to work well, on some occasions, to cut 

 off limbs in winter, or early spring, leaving a stump 

 three or four inches long, and in the following 

 June, saw the stump off smooth and close to the 

 body or main branch, always coating over the 

 wound with shellac dissolved in alcohol, which 

 can be kept in a bottle and always ready for use, 

 and will keep any length of time if corked up tight. 

 A good way is to put a small brush into the cork 

 so that it will be inside the bottle, and immersed 

 iu the liquid when corked, which will keep it from 

 getting dry and hard, as it soon would, if exposed 

 to the air. 



Perhaps Mr. Wilder or Mr. Sheldon will ex- 

 plain more fully their reasons for coming to their 

 conclusions, through the columns of the Farmer, 

 and thereby gratify myself, and I doubt not many 

 others who have much confidence in their sound, 

 practical judgment. I know that you entertain a 

 different opinion upon the subject from theirs. 



Ashbuniham, March, 18G2. w. 



Remarks. — Sound doctrine, every word of it, 

 and doctrine, too, for which a sound physiological 

 reason can be given. We supposed the gentle- 

 men referred to intended that the pruning done 

 in March should take place early in the month, 



before the sap begins to flow freely. But it is a 

 dangerous time, as a few warm, sunny days at 

 that season, will set the sap into great activity, and 

 if the sap vessels are cut off at that time, the sap 

 xoill ritn out just as certainly as that water will 

 run down hill. Nature, herself, indicates the prop- 

 er time to prune, and it is not her fault, but ours, 

 if we do not study her operations, and learn when 

 to do it. The rule is a simple one ; prune when 

 there is the least sap in the sap vessels or sap 

 wood ; that occurs about midsummer, when the 

 thin watery sap has visited the most remote twigs 

 and leaves, has become elaborated into a substance 

 entirely unlike that which so recently passed up, 

 and is going down directly under the outer bark 

 of the branches and stem of the tree, and plainly 

 increasing their diameter. This is the favorable 

 time to prune, because there is comparatively lit- 

 tle sap left in the sap vessels to run out, if they 

 are cut off. This period occurs not only in mid- 

 summer, but in the autumn, after the leaves have 

 fallen, and will continue imtil a few warm and ge- 

 nial days intervene, when the sap sensibly feels 

 their invigorating power, and especially if the 

 ground, at the time, is not frozen. There is anoth- 

 er reason why March pruning is dangerous. 

 When a Hmb is cut off, the mouths of the pores 

 are left open, and will not dry and contract as 

 they will in warmer weather, so that if warm days 

 ensue, and the sap is set in motion, there is noth- 

 ing to prevent its running out. Winter pruning 

 is more safe, because there is more time for the 

 wounds to dry and contract. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 AMERICAN GUAWO. 



Mr. Smith — Sir : — I read with interest yotir 

 article in the Farmer, on the use of American gu- 

 ano for renovating pasture lands. Will you have 

 the goodness to inform me, through the Farmer 

 or otherwise, how much should be used to the acre, 

 and any other facts that may be of use, as I have 

 some pasture that I want to improve. 



How will it operate on moist land ? 



Would it be beneficial to mix plaster ■n-ith the 

 guano r 



Sturhridge, March 14, 1862. 



H. Haynes, Jr. 



Mr. Editor : — In answer to my friend in Stur- 

 hridge, and others who have addressed me, ask- 

 ing to be further informed through the Farmer or 

 otherwise, in regard to the use of American gu- 

 ano, permit me to say that the quantity per acre 

 depends on circumstances, such as whether the 

 land is to be plowed or not — and how often it will 

 be convenient to plow it. If I had pasture land 

 which I wished to renovate, and could plow it, I 

 should, after properly preparing it for grain and 

 grass seed, or grass seed alone ; apply from three 

 to five hundred pounds — thi'ee hundred pounds is 

 as small an amount as would be advisable. Oa 

 most lands I should apply at the same time about 



