FRUIT TREES 



HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR PRUNER 



Speaking generally, there can be no doubt that the root pruning 

 of fruit trees is an essential in the production of a good pip ■„_ 

 crop of fruit, and if the tree be too large to lift con- "" '^"™ ^ 

 veniently, root pruning may be effected by digging away the soil 

 from the roots until the strong feeders are disclosed, when, if too 

 large for the knife, they may either be severed with a sharp chisel 

 or with a fine-toothed saw, leaving the weaker roots untouched. 



In cutting away the branches of fruit trees, especially in the case 

 of wall-trained trees, care should be taken to use a _. -, .^ 

 thin, sharp knife, sufficiently keen to make a clean cut. e u g 

 If the cut be left mth a rough, fractured edge the branch is lia,ble to 

 split, a result which is certain to be more'or less deleterious to the 

 tree. 



For cutting thick branches the fine-toothed pruning saw should 

 be used, afterwards smoothing the saw-cut with the 

 pruning knife and smearing it over with grafting paste, g "'^cuts? 

 so as to prevent the decay which might ensue from *"' 

 water getting into the heart of the wood. This paste may be made by 

 melting in a pipkin, over a slow fire, equal quantities of mutton fat 

 and bees-wax with about four times the quantity of pitch. It should 

 be applied warm, while it is sufiiciently liquid to be spread with a 

 brush. 



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