MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES, kc. 



9 



feafon you feldom fail to bring on the canker ; and no fruit 

 trees are more liable to this difeafe than the Apricot. The 

 reafon is obvious : the great acidity in thefe trees, the expofure 

 of the wounds, and the dormant ftate of the fap, predifpofe 

 to mortification; whereas, in fpring, when the fap is be- 

 ginning to now, and will follow the knife, the lips will 

 quickly grow. If the branches are fmall, a frefh bark and 

 frefh wood will in one feafon completely cover the wound ; 

 but if large, a time proportionate to their fize will be occu- 

 pied ; this procefs, however, is manifeftly much accelerated 

 by the application of the compofition, which excludes the air 

 and wet from the air and fap verTels of the tree. 



It may now be proper to give a few directions for covering 

 Apricots, to prevent the bloffom from being deftroyed by 

 frofts, cutting winds, &c. 



In fevere weather, they ought to be covered before the 

 flowers begin to expand ; for I have often feen the bjoflbms 

 drop off before they opened. 



The beft covering is old fiih-nets, which ihould be put on 

 three-fold ; and if a few branches of dry fern are ftuck in 

 among the branches before the nets are put on, they will affift 

 greatly in breaking the force of the high winds. It is a com- 

 mon practice, to cover with mats in the night, and to take 

 them off in the day ; but this, by frequently expofing the 

 trees to the cutting w T inds, does more harm than good. 

 Another practice is, to cover with branches of fpruce-fir and 

 yew; but thefe, being too clofe, encourage a blight, and 

 caufe the leaves of the trees to curl, and the fhoots to break 

 very weak ; whereas the nets admit a free circulation of the 

 air, and at the fame time break the force of the wind. When 



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