FRUIT TREES. Chap. IV. 83 



because they affect its management. Others would require a lot of hypotheses that are 

 more apt to bore & embarrass than to enlighten. 



Article V. Pruning a Trained Tree & Bush Trees, 



LET'S go back now to our tree, & let's say that it's grown to be twelve or fifteen 

 years old, kept in good condition, well supplied with all kinds of branches, and has not 

 suffered any serious harm from disease, mishap, or mismanagement. 



To prune it, 1°. I completely loosen its branches & clean it of reeds, osiers, dry 

 leaves, & everything that might betray a gardener's carelessness or serve as a haven for 

 insects. 



2°. I cut off all the branch stubs, calluses formed from cuts made too closely, dead 

 & exhausted branches, or those afflicted by gummosis or cankers. 



3°. Since wood branches are the essential parts of the tree, & the progenitors of all 

 of the other branches, I first make certain that a sufficient number of them are in the best 

 of condition. Beginning with the lower part of the tree, I select for wood branches the 

 handsomest and strongest ones that have grown out from the ends of the previous 

 pruning; I adjust the length that they're pruned to five to twelve inches, according to the 

 vigor & the strength of the tree. I'll make them even longer on a peach & on a pear tree 

 that hasn't yet been restrained. Proceeding toward the top of the tree, I prune some of the 

 less strong ones, i.e. branches of secondary strength, or the strongest of the medium ones, 

 as wood branches, on which I minimize the pruning. When I get to the top of the tree, 

 instead of pruning the strongest branch that emerged from the last pruning as a wood 

 branch, as I did lower down, 



