DECEMBER: SECOND WEEK 325 



covered or the work will avail little. San Jose scale, for 

 instance, reproduces at the rate of about three billions a 

 year; so a comparatively few scales left by careless spraying 

 will very quickly get the tree back into as bad condition 

 as it was before. One decided advantage that the miscible 

 . oils have over the lime-sulphur is that they spread and 

 work more thoroughly into the crevices and under rough- 

 nesses of the bark. 



The Important Work of Winter Pruning 



Just as important as the spraying is the winter job of 

 pruning. With the exception of a number of the flowering 

 shrubs growing in borders or masses, and a few of the orna- 

 mental trees, every tree, bush and brier on the place re- 

 quires attention in this regard if you aim for the best results. 

 It is possible to keep them healthy without pruning, but 

 you cannot get the best quality or the biggest quantity of 

 fruit or flowers by letting the trees and shrubs alone. The 

 plants will produce too much wood and consequently more 

 buds than they can develop. 



The equipment required for pruning is even more simple 

 than the necessary spraying outfit — a sharp knife, a wide- 

 set cutting-off saw, and a stepladder or light, long ladder. 

 If you are going to buy any special tools a combined pole 

 saw and pruning knife may be had for $1.75, and will 

 enable you to handle ordinary-sized trees from the ground 

 and to do the work very quickly. A pair of pruning shears, 

 costing from fifty cents up, is also a great convenience. 

 Specially prepared creosote or tree paint may be had at 

 a reasonable price, but ordinary outside heavy lead paint 

 will do. All branches more than an inch and a half in 

 diameter should, after being sawed off, be painted over 

 to prevent decay before the bark has a chance to grow over 

 the woimd. 



The first thing to remove in all pruning operations is 

 dead, decaying, bruised or diseased wood. What you 

 should cut away in addition to that will depend upon the 



