158 AMEEICAIT POMOLOGY. 



patient orchardists complain of the barrenness of their 

 trees, and seek a remedy in root-pruning. This is gener- 

 ally performed with a sharp spade, with which a trench is 

 dug in a circle around the tree. The excavation should be 

 deep enough to reach all of the lateral roots ; these are 

 generally within a foot of the surface. The ditch need 

 not be much wider than the spade, and the soil can be 

 thrown back at once, but all the roots should be severed, 

 if we desire to produce the effect of checking the wood- 

 growth. The diameter of this circle will depend upon the 

 size and vigor of the tree to be operated upon. As a 

 general rule, it may be made in the proportion of one foot 

 to each inch of tlie tree's diameter. The work may be done 

 at any time after the spring growth has begun to harden, 

 or durin;:; the autnran and winter, and until the buds are 

 about to break in the spring. The operation is wonder- 

 fully conducive to the end we have in view, and we often 

 see a vigorously growing but barren subject, transformed 

 in a single season into a fruitful tree, covered with blos- 

 som-bearing spurs that are full of promise of delicious 

 fruits. In some varieties, however, these fruit spurs re- 

 quire more than a single season for their perfection. 



Now it may be objected that this labor will be expen- 

 sive, and so it is, as all hard work with the spade must be ; 

 but what of that, when we consider the happy results that 

 ensue in golden harvests. But it has been suggested that 

 this labor may be performed by farm machinery, using a 

 strong plow, or rather a sharp cutter attached to a plow 

 beam, and drawn by a powerful team at the requisite dis- 

 tance on either side of the rows of trees, and in directions 

 crossing each other at right angles. This, of course, like 



