THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



5 



WINTER PRUNING.' 



There are times when practice and theory 

 do not apparently agree, and winter-pruning 

 is a case in point. The older gardeners have 

 been taught that fresh wounds, during cold 

 freezing weather, would not heal; that disease 

 would certainly set in, causing death or per- 

 manent injury to a portion of the tree at least. 

 Theory certainly teaches that when the inner 

 organism of the wood is exposed, the air at a 

 low temperature will freeze the delicate parts, 

 and death must result; yet we find our nurse- 

 rymen of latter ytars pruning their trees dur- 

 ing very cold weather, on account of the per- 

 sonal comfort to themselves, arising from the 

 dry, firm ground to walk on : and no ill effects 

 arise therefrom. The old adage of "pruning 

 whenever your knife is sharp." is not so far 

 from the truth after all, although prejudice, 

 at least, will incline us to defer the operation 

 until the mild days of early spring. 



How to prune is a question of difficult solu- 

 tion, owing to the individual experience and 

 preference of our teachers in the matter. 



A system that has proved entirely satisfacto- 

 ry to more than one, is performed somehow 

 in this wise. In the earlier stages of the tree's 

 life, after it has become established in the or- 

 chard or garden, select three branches, as near- 

 ly as possible together, and at a height from 

 the ground depending upon the desired length 

 of body. These three branches should diverge 

 at equal angles, and resemble what botanists 

 term a " w/;wZ." About eighteen inches above 

 this whorl, another set of three branches 

 should be encouraged to start out, and all oth- 

 ers between the two sets must be rubbed or 

 cut off. This arrangement of branches must 

 be continued as the leading shoot increases in 

 height. As to the side branehlets, growing out 

 of the selected branches, these must be thinned 

 out with judgment, allowing only sufficient 

 to remain to form an open healthy top. If 

 headed in too much, a crowded head will re- 

 sult, which is a waste of vitality. Pruning 

 causes strong growth, but at the same time it 

 will be at the expense of the tre ;'s constitution. 



The main points in pruning trees may bj 

 summed up in a very few words. Commence 

 when the plant is very young, and no harm 

 will result from removing the slender young 

 twigs, for if allowed to remain until they as- 

 sume the size of thick branches, more or less 

 injury will result. 



Be sure to give the cut portion of large 

 wounds a coating of shellac dissolved in al- 

 cohol, or when very larg '. wrap up in moist 

 clay and cow-manure. Dull tools invariably 

 leave a rough jagged surface which is more dif- 

 ficult to heal over than a perfectly smooth cut. 



In the ornamental department, no set rules 

 cau be laid down to guide the inexperienced 

 arboriculturist, but any one with an eye for 

 symmetrical proportions can induce the head 

 of a favorite specimen to assume proper pro- 

 portions and outline. If the tree inclines to be- 

 come straggling, with long shoots, bare of 

 branehlets, they must be well headed back . 

 and if the limbs spread too much, cut to an in. 

 side bud, but if on the contrary, they grow too 

 closely together, then select an outside bud to 

 cut back to. It is preferable to encourage a 

 straight leading shoot to all trees, and never 

 allow it to fork under any circumstances. 

 More trees are injured by high winds when 

 in the latter condition, than from any other 

 source. 



THE GRAPE HOUSE. 



Every one recognizes that Foreign Grapes are 

 a great luxury, and many would like to grow 

 them if they did not suppose it to be so very 

 difficult. There are no operations of horti- 

 culture whose difficulties are so much over- 

 estimated. 



It is to the interest of the grower who sells 

 his Grapes, and of the professional gardener 

 who grows them for his employer, to exagger- 

 ate the difficulties, and thus the amateur is 

 deterred from trying for himself. 



"What are the conditions for success ? Sim- 

 ply to secure the conditions of temperature, 

 moisture, and freedom from sudden change 

 which are found in the countries where these 

 fruits are grown in the open air. We secure 

 this by using the natural epialities of our cli- 

 mate, so far as they are favorable, and by sup- 

 plementing these as far as necessary by arti- 

 ficial means, and this we do by protection with 

 glass. 



The first consideration in the preparation of 

 the border is drainage. If this is obtained by 

 a naturally porous subsoil, very good ; if not, 

 it must be secured by an artificial drain. The 

 soil needs to be only the best possible natural 

 soil. This is best obtained by filling to the 

 depth of two feet with decayed sods from an 

 old pasture, with a good admixture of ground 

 bones. The house may be very simple and 

 inexpensive. Ventilation must be carefully 

 provided for. This is the one important re- 

 quirement. 



After planting, the vines should not be al- 

 lowed to bear until they are sufficiently ma- 

 tured to be able to produce a crop without 

 undue exhaustion — say the third year. Hav- 

 ing been laid down and covered with sand the 

 previous autumn, they should be taken up in 

 a house without fire heat, not earlier than the 

 middle of April, in the latitude of New York. 

 Even then we are liable to cold storms which 

 may check the growth after the vines have 

 started. The vines should be washed with 

 warm soap suds, to clean from insects and 

 soften the buds. As the buds near the end of 

 the shoot are apt to break more quickly and 

 grow more strongly than those along the vine, 

 it is well to tie the vines up only part way and 

 allow the ends to hang down so as to throw 

 the first growth into the lower buds. 



There should be frequent syringing from a 

 hose to keep the air moist, like the natural 

 condition with spring showers. When the 

 sun's heat runs the mercury above eighty 

 degrees, ventilation should be given. As the 

 growth begins and advances the ventilation 

 must receive careful attention, being given 

 gradually as the heat rises in the morning and 

 the operation reversed in the afternoon. Fifty 

 and ninety degrees are the limits beyond 

 which the temperature should not be allowed 

 to go. At every stage of growth sudden changes 

 and cold drafts must be guarded against as the 

 fruitful causes of mildew and failure. The 

 sudden changes of our climate are the chief 

 reason why Foreign Grapes cannot be grown 

 in the open air. 



Daily syringing must be continued until the 

 vines are in blossom, when it must be sus- 

 pended while the fructification goes on. The 

 air can be kept moist by sprinkling the ground. 

 When the fruit is set there must be a thorough 

 thinning of shoots by removing such as have 

 the poorest bunches, and as the berries of 

 these grow, the clusters must be thinned by re- 



moving, with sharp pointed shears, the smaller 

 berries. This allows those remaining to have 

 room to grow. It is often best to remove 

 more than one half the berries of a cluster. 



Where fire heat is employed to secure early 

 ripening the same general conditions are to be 

 observed. The great point in the use of fire 

 is to secure the proper degree and uniformity 

 of temperature and to avoid the effects of cold 

 storms. Thus it is often advantageous to use 

 fire heat until June. But it should be borne in 

 mind that it is natural for plants to have a lower 

 temperature at night than in the day. A high 

 night temperature causes feeble growth. With 

 fire heat the vines may be started at any time, 

 but the difficulties and expense increase with 

 early forcing so that no one but a skillful 

 grower should begin operations before Feb- 

 ruary. 



To insure the finest crop of Grapes they 

 must have plenty of air without sudden 

 changes — plenty of moisture — severe thinning 

 of branches — and severe thinning of berries. 



Of varieties it is advisable to grow but few. 

 The Black Hamburg is the most valuable of 

 all. The Muscat of Alexandria is of unsur- 

 passed cjuality. White and Grizzly Frontignan 

 are desirable. 



CHANGING THE BEARING TEAR, 



It has been suggested that by picking off the 

 fruit buds from trees in the bearing years, 

 the habit of the trees could be changed so 

 as to bear an equal crop every year or a full 

 one in the otherwise barren years. Experi- 

 ments made to this purpose have not fulfilled 

 these anticipations. The usual barrenness of 

 fruit trees in alternate years is not caused by 

 over-bearing and exhaustion from the previous 

 crop only, but frequently by frosts and cold 

 rain storms during the blossoming season. If 

 such injurious conditions should prevail during 

 the year for which we have prepared our trees 

 for bearing, we might lose the fruit crops for 

 three years in succession. 



Cultivating Young Orchards. — If you have 

 money to fool away, seed down your young 

 orchard to Clover and Timothy, or sow a crop 

 of Wheat or Oats. If you want the trees to 

 thrive, cultivate well till they are seven to ten 

 years old. Spread ashes, manure, or salt 

 broadcast. Stop cultivating in August, weeds 

 or no weeds. To judge of the condition of an 

 Apple tree is like judging of the condition of 

 sheep in a pasture. Look at the sheep and 

 not at the pasture, and if they are plump and 

 fat, they are all right ! So says Prof. Beal. 



Seedling Peaches. — In localities where 

 Peach trees, budded with the improved varie- 

 ties fail, seedlings will often be found to suc- 

 ceed The yellow fleshed kinds, when raised 

 from the pits, generally vary but little from 

 the parent fruit ; others — even if some of their 

 offsprings prove inferior — may produce seed- 

 lings of superior quality. All our choice va- 

 rieties originated in this way. 



Keeping Cider.— To keep cider in good 

 conelition, whether it is to be used as a bever- 

 age, or for making vinegar, the casks should 

 be filled to overflowing, every few weeks. 

 Cider of the same quality is best for this pur- 

 pose, but when such is not at hand, sweetened 

 water may be used instead. 



