42 



FRUIT TREES. 



It will in every case be necessary, in pruning, to 

 follow the order of vegetation of tlie different species, 

 pruning first the apricots, next the peaches, plums, 

 cherries, pears, apples, and lastly the vines. 



Summer Pruning. — The operations of summer 

 pruning are practised while vegetation is entire ; but 

 the precise moment can only be determined by the 

 actual state of vegetation of the parts of the tree that 

 require pruning. In order to describe these indications 

 with greater clearness, and to avoid useless repetition, 

 we shall defer our remarks on this head until we 

 come to apply these operations to the various species 

 of fruit trees of which we have to speak. 



Instruments required for Pruning. 



The pruning-knife (fig. 29) is the oldest and best of 

 the instruments employed in pruning. The blade 

 should be sufficiently curved, but not so much as to 

 form a right angle, for in that case it would be as 

 difficult to cut with as if the blade were nearly straight. 

 The haft should be large enough to fill the hand. It 

 is requisite to be provided with two knives, a very 

 strong one for winter pruning, and the other much 

 smaller for summer operations. 



It has been proposed to substitute the sector (fig. 30) 

 or pruning shears for the pruning-knife. The sector 

 offers the advantage of effecting its work more promptly 

 than the knife, but it flattens the wood at the point of 

 section, detaches the bark for a short distance below 

 the place, and the end of the branch withers instead of 

 healing ; the injury often extends below the terminal 



