364 IBLEEDING MUST BE PREVENTED. 



fluid contents as long as the roots continue to absorb them 

 from the soil. If this is allowed to continue, the system 

 ■becomes so exhausted as to be unable to recover from the shock, 

 and the plant will either become very unhealthy, or will die. 

 The only mode of avoiding it is to take care never to wound 

 •such trees at the time when their sap first begins to flow; 

 after a time, the demand upon the system by the leaves 

 becomes so great that there is no surplus, and therefore 

 bleeding does not take place when a wound is inflicted. 



The Vine often bleeds excessively wten primed in an improper 

 season, or when accidentally wounded; and, I believe, no mode of 

 stopping the flow of the sap is at present known to gardeners. I there- 

 fore mention the following, which I discovered many years ago, and 

 have always practised with success : — If to four parts of scraped cheese 

 be added one part of calcined oyster shells, or other pure calcareous 

 earth, and this composition be pressed strongly into the pores of the 

 wood, the sap will instantly cease to flow; so that the largest branch 

 may, of course, be taken off at any season with safety." {Knight, in 

 Hort. Trans., i. 102.) Mr. Lowe proposes collodion as a remedy for 

 bleeding, which he found to be readily prevented by smearing wounds, 

 immediately, with the substance. To this operation, the substance 

 seems admirably adapted, by reason of its adhesiveness, its impenetra- 

 bility, and its excessive toughness. Whether it will stop the bleeding 

 of Vines, "Walnuts, and similar trees requires to be ascertained. 



All these things show how necessary it is to perform the 

 operations of pruning with care and discretion. But, in 

 addition to the general facts already mentioned, there are 

 others of a more special kind that require attention. The first 

 thing to be thought of is the peculiar nature of the plant under 

 operation, and the manner in which its special habits may 

 render a special mode of pruning necessary. For example, the 

 fruit of the Fig and Walnut is borne by the wood of the same 

 season; that of the Vine and Filbert by that of the second 

 season; and Pears, Apples, &c., by wood of some years' 

 growth ; it is clear that plants of these three kinds will each 

 Require a distinct plan of pruning for fruit. 



The pruner has frequently no other object in view than that 

 of thinning the branches so as to allow the free access of light 

 and air to the fruit ; and if this purpose is wisely followed, by 



