226 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



strument capable of damaging any part of a tree ; so that although they 

 may settle upon the trees, no injury can thus ensue. 



As the females must crawl up the trunks of the trees in order to deposit 

 their eggs, or if they lay them upon fences, &c., the young caterpillars 

 must crawl up the trunks to feed upon the leaves, the moment it attempts 

 to traverse this smooth semi-circle of glass, the Aveight of the lower part 

 of its body throws it ofi' its balance, and it falls to the ground. The cost 

 of these protectors is said to be at present eight cents per inch diameter, 

 and that it is absolutely effectual to prevent tbe ravages of the canker- 

 worm. It either wholly prevents, or greatly checks, the ravages of any 

 other insect which reaches the branches of the tree by crawling up the 

 trunk, and when once applied, it requires no further expense, care and 

 attention, or so little as to be of no consequence. 



Pruning Trees and Vines. 



The regular subject, pruning trees and vines, was then taken up. 



I have an orchard which has been planted twelve years, and I have 

 pruned it at all seasons of the yeav without perceiving that one had the 

 advantage of the other. I made my last pruning of large limbs in midsum- 

 mer, because I had read that it was best to do so when the trees were 

 making a vigorous growth. The article stated that in August the sap is 

 descending, and causes the wounds to heal over more quickly. I found 

 this to be the case — that some limbs four inches in diameter, cut off two 

 years ago, are now entirely healed over. 



Mr. Ward said — I have pruned at different seasons, and for Winter 

 pruning prefer the last of February or first of March. I have never seen 

 any ill effects from August pruning. I think that all wounds made in early 

 Autumn heal quicker than at any other season. If the pruiiing is done 

 late in the Spring, the wounds are apt to bleed and injure the tree. I 

 never met with this difiSculty with limbs cut early in March, and it is 

 economy of labor to do the work at that time. I have noticed when limbs 

 are cut for grafting that if the weather is such that the growth remains 

 dormant for some da^'s, the wound heals readily. Upon small trees, pruned 

 with a knife, I would cut at any season. It is the best plan to pinch 

 back the limbs of dwarf trees, instead of letting them get such growth as 

 to have to be cut away. 



Mr. George Bartlett earnestly recommended the use of gum shellac to 

 cover all wounds made in pruning, budding or grafting. He said: I used 

 to raise all my own apple trees, because I could do so for less Ihan the cost 

 of their transportation from the nursery. I found when I cut away the 

 stalk close down to the bud that I frequently lost my labor, beside a year's 

 growth. After I adopted the plan of covering the cut with shellac I never 

 lost a tree. I consider shellac indispensable in every orchard or nursery. 



Mr. Smith, of Lebanon, Ct. — I have twenty-five acres in apple trees, and 

 1 have tried pruning in all seasons. I would rather do it in AVinter than 

 not at all; but of all others I prefer the season of blossoming. If necessary 

 to make a second pruning I would do it in August. It should be a rule never 

 to let limbs get large which will require to be afterward cut away. 



Mr. Peter G. Bergen, Long Island, — My object in pruning is to get fruit 



