34 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan 



ery sap-vessel is full of a thin, watery fluid in- 

 tent on its errand to furnish every branch and 

 twig its needed supplies, and swelling and 

 pushing every bud to its utmost size and pow- 

 er of action. 8vch is the condition of the 

 tree in the spring. Is it, then, a proper time 

 to prune it — to cut off thousands of these sap- 

 vi'ssels and cause them to pour out the fluid 

 which the whole tree is waiting for, and cannot 

 live without ? It needs no argument to show 

 that trees cut when in such a state must bleed. 



But the loss of the sap to the tree is not all 

 — perhaps not the worst of it. As the sap 

 flows out and comes in contact with the atmos- 

 phere, it becomes pungent and bitter, and poi- 

 sons the tree, wherever much of it runs. The 

 face of the wound becomes black, and is some- 

 tunes partly covered with a grayish-ljlack mould 

 or fmigus. If the sap runs down upon the 

 bark it is so powerful as frequently to destroy 

 it in to the wood, turning it black and giving it 

 an offensive taste and smell. When this is the 

 case, the sap-wood soon becomes inactive and 

 dies in turn. 



These statements are made not from the re- 

 sults of single cases or experiments, but from 

 thousands of cases, extending tlirough many 

 years. A single tree has been practiced upon 

 for ten years in succession, pruning some jjor- 

 tion of it at different seasons, and the results 

 have been uniformly as stated above. 



Now let us turn to the other side of the ques- 

 tion. 



The tree has been left untouched. The sap 

 has gone on in its course rejoicing, and has im- 

 parted life, action, beauty and vigor to every 

 part of the tree. Buds have swollen, blossoms 

 expanded, and the tree is covered with large 

 and healthy leaves. These are the lungs of the 

 tree. They have been formed for action, and 

 now comes the time for the perfonnance of 

 of their part of the duty of building up that 

 wonderful thing which we call a tree. 



Tlie petals of the blossoms have fallen, fruit 

 is set, and the tree requires some aliment more 

 nutritious and sul^stantial than the thin sap 

 which was first sent up. The leaves prepare 

 this. They receive the sap stored up in the 

 cells, work it over in their laboratories, and 

 send it back, thick and energizing, to give 

 bri'a(hh to the trunk, and stoutness and .strength 

 to the branches. But this docs not pass thromjh 

 the sap-vessels, but outside of them, between 



the sap-wood and the outer bark. This is 

 called the alburnum, and makes the annual 

 growth in the diameter of trunk and branches. 



Now prune the tree, and what will happen ? 

 There is little fluid in the sap-vessels. It has 

 mostly gone off to do its work among the 

 branches, and hundreds of them may be taken 

 away without the slightest appearance of sap. 

 This has been verified in hundreds of instances 

 in our practice. An examination of as many 

 trees to-day, will confirm the statement. 



There is still another advantage in pruning 

 after the leaves are fully formed. The inspis- 

 sated or thickened sap is descending, and wiU 

 at once commence a covering of smooth, green 

 bark over the wound which has been made. 

 Some of the small places will be covered the 

 same year, and those of an inch in diameter in 

 healthy trees will be covered the second year. 



So far as the flowing of the sap is concerned, 

 these conditions exist in the tree after the leaves 

 have fallen in the autumn, and they may then 

 be piiined consistently. The surface of the 

 wounds will dry before the sap flows in the 

 spring, so as to prevent its passing out. All 

 wounds, however, should be covered with paint, 

 or what is better but more expensive, gum 

 shellac dissolved in alcohol. 



The observing farmer always has the true 

 rule for pruning before him. It is this. Nev- 

 er prune when your saw will keep bright and 

 clean. Always prune when the saw "gums 

 up," so that it becomes necessary to wash it 

 occasionally in order to have it run easy. 



The collateral evidence that these conclusions 

 are correct is abundant and conclusive. We 

 have enough of it before us to fill a page, but 

 our article has grown so long that we defer cit- 

 ing much of it at present. Prof. Lindley has 

 given the best portion of his life to the study of 

 plants and particularly trees. He says, — "The 

 only mode of avoiding l)k'eding is never to 

 wound trees when their first sap 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." 



On all matters of tliis kind. Downing is us- 

 ually recorded as a safe guide ; let us see what 

 he says in relation to the particular time of 

 pruning. In his work on the "Fruits and 

 Fruit Trees of America,'''' he says, "w(>. should 

 especially avoid pruning at that period in spring 



