34 



PRUNING. 



tree. In the nurseries this practice of heading down unthrifty trees is 

 frequently pursued, and small orchard trees which have become enfeebled 

 may be treated in the same manner, cutting back the head as far as the 

 place where it is wished that new shoots should spring out. Older trees 

 should be headed back more sparingly, unless they are greatly enfeebled, 

 and their roots should at the same time be assisted by manure. 



A judicious pruning, to modify the form of our standard trees, is 

 nearly all that is required in ordinary practice. Every fruit-tree, grown 

 in the open orchard or garden as a common standard, should be allowed 

 to take its natural form, the whole efforts of the pruner going no f urther 

 than to take out all weak and crowded branches; those which are filling 

 uselessly the interior of the tree, where their leaves cannot be duly 

 exposed to the light and sun, or those which interfere with the growth 

 of others. All pruning of large branches in healthy trees should be 

 avoided, by examining them every season and taking out superfluous 

 shoots while small. Mr. Coxe, the best American author on fruit-trees, 

 remarks very truly : " When orchard trees are pruned, they are apt to 

 throw out numerous (superfluous) suckers from the boughs in the follow- 

 ing summer ; these should be rubbed off when they first appear, or they 

 may easily be broken off while young and brittle — cutting is apt to 

 increase their number." 



Where pruning is not required to renovate the vigor of an enfeebled 

 tree, or to regulate its shape, — in other words, in the case of a healthy 

 tree which we wish to retain in a state of the greatest luxuriance, health, 

 and vigor, — it may be considered worse than useless. Bearing in mind 

 that growth is always corresponding to the action of the leaves and 

 branches, if these are in due proportion and in perfect health, the knife 

 will always be found rather detrimental to luxuriance and constitutional 

 vigor than beneficial. * 



The best season for pruning to promote growth, theoretically, is in 

 autumn, soon after the fall of the leaf. Next to this, winter pruning, 

 performed in mild weather, is best, and in orchards this is the season 

 usually most convenient. f In all parts of the country where the winters 

 are not very severe (and always in the Southern or Western States) the 

 roots are collecting a certain stock of nourishment during the whole 

 autumn and winter. When a tree is pruned in autumn or winter this 

 whole supply goes to the remaining branches, while in the case of spring 

 pruning it is partly lost. North of the 43d degree of latitude, however, 

 the winters are so severe that winter-pruning should be deferred till the 

 last of February. 



We should especially avoid pruning at that period in spring when 



* Ignorant cultivators frequently weaken the energies of young trees, and 

 ■cause them to grow up with lean and slender stems, by injudiciously trimming 

 off the young side shoots and leaves in the growing season. By taking off these 

 shoots the stem is deprived of all the leaves which would attract and elaborate 

 the sap, thus preparing nourishment for the growth of the stem ; and the trunk 

 of the tree does not increase in size half so fast as when the side branches are 

 allowed to remain for a time, pruning them away gradually. It is better, in the 

 case of these young trees, to stop the side branches, when of moderate length, by 

 pinching out the terminal bud. 



f Experience of many years convinces us that, whatever theory may sug- 

 gest, the best time to prune in order to promote growth, and to have the wound 

 healed perfectly, is very early in spring, or as soon as the severity of winter has 

 passed. 



