293 



CHAPTEE X. 



INSTRUMENTS FOE PRUNING. 



The chisel, which is made with a socket, is fastened 

 upon a long handle by means of a screw-nail. The 

 handle may be of any convenient length, from 8 to 20 

 feet, or upwards. The handle of the chisel, when 

 sharply struck with a small wooden maUet, will cut 

 even a large branch at a single stroke; and if the 

 handle is perfectly straight, and fiUs the socket com- 

 pletely, the length of the handle does not diminish 

 the force of the blow in any important degree. 



What applies to the oak is equally applicable to the 

 elm, ash, beech, lime, Spanish chestnut, sycamore, &c. ; 

 that is to say, any one of them may be pruned at any 

 period of the year, except in cases where the plants 

 require to be cut over close to the surface of the 

 ground : in such cases we prefer doing the work 

 either during the last week in March or first week in 

 April ; because, if a plant is cut over late in summer 

 or early in winter, it is so long exposed to the wet as 

 materially to retard, if not entirely to prevent, vegeta- 

 tion. The walnut, sycamore, maple, and birch, &c., we 

 prefer pruning during the months of June, July, and 

 August, when the sap is most active, and when the 



