130 SHADE-TREES IN TOWNS AND CITIES 



branches. At this time also the removal of very much of 

 the crown is apt to react unfavorably upon the roots by 

 robbing them of so much elaborated food material. It has 

 not been observed that the rapidity of the healing of the 

 wounds is dependent to any extent upon the season when 

 pruning is done. 



Pruning Tools. ^While the tools required for pruning are 

 simple, one will find that a great deal of experimenting will 

 be required to strike the right kind. The saw is the chief 

 requisite, and the kinds actually sold as pruning-saws are 

 very inefficient. A cross-cut saw, that is satisfactory for 

 cutting dry, seasoned wood, is worthless for sawing the 

 sappy, tough wood which is at the base of a limb, where it 

 joins the trunk. After a great deal of trials with all kinds 

 of saws, the writer was on the point of having a special 

 kind of saw made, when he discovered on the market a saw 

 which is far more satisfactory than any other commonly 

 used for pruning. It is Atkins' Universal Saw, No. 83, 

 having a patent tooth, as shown in Plate 30, Fig. 4, and is ad- 

 mirable for the green wood of living trees. It works easy, 

 and there is no pressure required on the saw to make it cut. 

 Work can be done very rapidly with this tool. 



The best way to carry the saw when going up a tree is 

 to suspend it from a belt having a loop provided for that 

 purpose. When hung just behind the hip it leaves the arms 

 and body of the pruner free to climb or shin up any 

 branches.. Plate 30, Fig. 8, shows an admirable form of 

 pruner's belt for carrying a saw, a small axe, a rope, and a 

 leather holder for supporting the pruner's body while work- 

 ing. The holder is passed around the tree and the ends 

 clasped to two rings in the belt, one on each side of the 

 body. When not in use it is suspended from one of the 



