40 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



HOME-MADE PRUNERS. 



The American Agriculturist, of recent date, describes a set of home- 

 made pruners of very simple construction, which any one can make. 



We copy the cut and description, as we beHeve 

 they will be of value to our readers : 



The moveable shear, to which the pitman rod is 

 attached, does most of the cutting. Both shears are made of 

 thin, hardened steel. From the bolt-hole in the moveable 

 shear a rod longer yor shorter (the pitman), to correspond with 

 the length of the pole used, runs to the lever shown at the 

 bottom of the cut. In pruning trees and vines the handle 

 of this lever is raised, which forces up the bar and opens the 

 jaws of the shears. Then, on lowering the lever, the twig, if 

 it be placed in the shears, is clipped oft. The jaws of the 

 shears must be ground at an angle somewhat more acute than 

 that commonly employed for tailor's shears, The highest 

 part of each bevel must come against the bevel upon which 

 it acts. The screw shown connects the shears. 



Anyone who has tried such pruners in his young 

 orchard, and has found the great advantage they 

 afford over the saw, will be wholly unwilling to do 

 without them. Not only does he save time by the use of such pruners, but 

 if the knives are sharp the cuts will be smoother than those made by 

 the saw, and consequently easier healed. 



FERTILIZERS FOR THE GARDEN AND ORCHARD. 



WOOD ASHES. 



T is an astonishing fact that Canadian wood ashes, one of our most 



valuable fertilizers, is being exported to United States in car lots, while 



in Canada it is so little valued by our farmers that it is sold for a mere 



song to the ash collectors, or allowed to waste its strength in neglected piles 



about the house. 



Fruit farmers in the States are paying twenty-five cents a bushel for 

 Canadian ashes by the carload, and are finding in them one of the most 

 economical fertilizers which they can apply. The Experiment Station at 

 New Haven, Conn., has been analysing various brands of Canadian ashes, 

 and found them to vary considerably in the amount of potash which they 

 contain, some having only four per cent., and others as much as ten per cent. 

 The variable nature of the composition of various lots of wood ashes is no 

 doubt largely due to the wood from which it is derived, thus it has been found 



