262 
but it has now eam into total disuse. ge snc has taught fruit 
growers a severe lesson. ‘The prune makes a very poor union with the 
apricot, and when the tree gets to be large enough to catch the wind it 
invariably breaks off at the joint of the two stocks. In one instance a 
fruit grower lost 1,000 trees in an orchard. 
he yrobalan, or cherry plum (Prunus nig eee has of late 
come into great favour as a stock for the prune. It is claimed by some 
ily pr ted. Th 
n - iri e ue AM eie : mat are at once sprouted. Pierio xg t of 
g foun 
and its shoots finer than the cherry plum tree, grown for its fruit in this 
State. 
The prune is propagated by both budding and grafting. It is 
tomary to bud the young stock first, as, if jn bud does not He it 
affords an opportunity to graft later in the season, thus giving t e 
nurseryman two chances, The budding season Sind from the middle 
bud is inserted. The grafting season is in January and February, at 
which time grafts are inserted in all the plants in which the buds have 
not taken. The. grafting is done as near the surface of the soil as con- 
venient, usually about 2 or 3 inches from the ground. [The whole 
rocess of budding and braid is aoe ibed at length in the present 
report, under Propagation of the prune. | 
CULTIVATION. 
n the prune orchard, as in all others, careful cultivation p ays. A 
double object is attained by keeping the surface well pulverised. ^ First, 
the weeds, which draw heavily i the vitality of the soil, which 
should be devoted to tree and fruit growth, are destroyed, and the 
fertilising qualities which they would extract from the land are left for 
J 
evaporation of moisture of the soil, the loose surface acting as a mulch, 
and on dry lands especially, renders the need of irrigation less frequent. 
PnuxiNG. 
The ee en of the young tree hu thought, care, and judgment. 
In the first years of its life to assume the form which it 
is to retain rit its whole prd ed Here, again, the individual 
judgment must be « exercised, and conditions of soil, climate and requir- 
‘ments must be considered. Two schools, in regard to pruning, have 
ferr v4 each ied b o à system diametrically opposed to the othe 
with plausible arguments—the one 
her low ; one heavy pruning, the other 

