Sept.  1,  1896.] 
Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturist." 
21.3 
PRUNING. 
( Continued. ) 
When  a brand)  is  very  weakly  in  appearance 
and  there  seems  little  hope  of  improving  it.s  co))- 
clition,  or  if  it  is  badly  attacked  by  some  fungoid 
disease,  it  is  advisable  to  remove  it  at  once 
instead  of  allowing  it  to  die  on  tlie  tree.  By 
such  interference  the  neighbouring  branches  will 
be  benefitted,  for  tlie  sap  which  had  been  appro- 
priated by  the  weakly  or  diseased  brancli,  and 
was  practically  wasted  before  will  go  to  furtber 
nonrisli  and  help  in  the  development  of  the 
remaining  branches. 
1 have  .‘•o  far  ende.avoured  to  show  how  I’ational 
pruning  will  add  greatly  to  the  vujour  of  the 
tree  which  should  have  our  first  attention.  This 
result  obtained  we  are  free  to  think  about  and 
operate  for  fruit.  But  we  must  first  recognise 
the  fact  that  an  exuberance  of  sap  in  a branch 
tends  to  force  its  buds  to  produce  wood.  Hence 
it  is  that  those  branches  where  there  i.s  an 
afiluence  of  sap  lu'oduce  more  wood,  while  those 
which  have  a more  moderate  supply  ])voduce 
mo)-e  fruit  and  less  wood  ; therefore,  when  we 
notice  a branch  producing  too  much  wood  we 
must  artifically  ob:truct  the  too  free  circulation 
of  .sap  in  its  direction  by,  for  instance,  bending  the 
branches  towards  the  horizontal  so  as  to  force  it  into 
fruit  by  this  means.  On  the  other  hand  if  wood 
is  desired  let  the  branch  be  bi-ougbt  to  as  ver- 
tical a position  ns  possible,  and  the  su])ply  of 
saj)  confined  to  two  or  three  buds  only.  The 
greater  the  obstacles  to  the  free  circubilion  of 
sap  the  greater  will  be  the  production  of  fruit 
in  that  branch  or  plant.  Ti-ees  begin  to  form 
buds  for  fruit  after  a certain  number  of  years. 
AVhat  the  fruit  grower  has  to  do  in  order  to 
check  the  free  circulation  or  dissipation  of  sap 
atid  to  induce  production  of  fruit  is  to  prune 
short  at  laterals  and  long  on  secondary  bi-anches. 
He  should  also  arch  or  bend  the  vigourous  branches 
as  much  as  possible,  occasionally  e.xpo.-e  the 
roots  and  fearlessly  mutilate  the  thickest  and 
most  vertical  roots  which  go  deepest  into  the 
ground. 
The  more  we  force  our  trees  into  bearing  the 
more  we  weaken  them,w’hile  the  more  we  treat 
them  for  wood,  the  more  vigorous  we  make  them. 
It  is  hence  of  the  first  importance  to  the  fruit 
grower  to  know  how  to  maintain  the  proper 
mean  between  fruit  and  wood,  the  health  and 
durability  of  a tree  depending  upon  the  treat- 
ment directed  towards  this  end.  In  doubtful 
cases  it  is  better  to  give  up  pruning  a branch  for  fruit 
than  one  for  wood  ; for  what  we  may  lose  t his 
year  will  be  gained  in  increased  fruitfulness  in 
the  future. 
Where  buds  that  produce  wood  are  more 
numerous  than  those  which  produce  fruit,  na- 
turally a lai-ger  proportion  of  sap  will  go  to  the 
former,  and  tlie  crop  will  suffer.^  This  is  why 
in  plants  of  modetate  vigour  we  find  better 
specimens  of  fruit  than  in  very  vigorous  or  rank- 
growing trees. 
Trees  or  their  branch  to  which  light,  air  and 
heat  have  not  free  access  will  be  found  to  be 
wmak.  They  will  only  grow  in  stature  and  pre- 
dnee  neither  now  wood  nor  fruit.  This  is  why 
it  is  advisable  to  give  tree  a symmetrical  form, 
so  that  all  the  component  parts  of  the  tree  may 
benefit  by  the  action  of  light,  air  and  heat,  which 
ai-e  necessary  agents  for  their  health  and  strength. 
All  wood  will  not  produce  buds  unless  forced 
bv  the  knife  or  by  some  interference  with  the 
new  wood  it  carries.  This  is  why  orange  and 
lemon  ti’ees,  as  grown  here,  bear  good  w-ood 
only  froni  11’  to  20’  from  the  ground,  wdiereas 
if  properly  treated  they  could  be  made  to  do 
so  at  6’  with  much  iidvantage. 
C.  ZANETTI. 
BEE-KEEPING  IN  CEYLON. 
In  his  work  entitled  “ Eight  Y'ears  in  Ceylon,” 
Sir  Samuel  Baker  refers  at  some  length  to  Ceylon 
honey  bee.s,  of  whicli  he  himself  recognised  four 
distinct  varieties.  He  describes  the  Bambara  as 
the  largest  and  most  extensive  honey-maker,  and 
refers  to  its  comb  as  hanging  from  the  bough  of  a 
tree  like  a Cheshire  cheese,  being  about  the  same 
thickness  but  5 or  6 inches  gi-eater  in  diameter, 
ne  goes  on  to  say  that  the  honey  of  this  bee  is 
not  so  much  esteemed  as  tliat  from  the  smaller 
varieties,  as  the  flavour  partakes  too  strongly  of 
tl)o  particular  flower  which  the  bee  has  frequented, 
so  that  the  honey  varies  in  different  seasons,  and 
is  sometitnes  so  highly  aperient  that  it  must  be 
used  with  much  caution.  So  partial,  he  says,  are 
these  bees  to  particular  blossoms  that  they 
migrate  from  place  to  place  at  different  periods 
in  quest  of  flowers  that  are  then  in  bloom.  The 
next  honey-maker  lie  recognises  as  very  similar 
in  size  and  appearance  to  the  Idve-bee  of  England. 
This  variety,  he  remarks,  forms  its  nest  in  hollow 
trees  and  in  holes  in  rocks.  Another  bee  he  des- 
cribes as  similar  in  appearance  bnt  not  more  than 
half  the  size  of  the  last-named,  suspending  a 
most  delicate  comb  to  the  twigs  of  a tree.  The 
nest  he  says  is  no  larger  than  an  orange,  but  the 
honey  of  the  two  latter  is  of  the  finest  quality  and 
quite  equal  in  flavour  to  the  famed  “ miel  vert  ” 
of  the  Isle  of  Boiu’bnn. 
Referring  to  wax.  Sir  Samuel  Baker  states  that 
in  1853  the  export  amounted  to  more  than  a ton, 
and  he  considers  that  a great  deal  more  might  be 
exported,  but  for  the  habit  which  the  natives  have 
of  consuming  the  wax  with  the  honey. 
The  honey  bees  of  Ceylon  are  the  Mi-messa 
{Apis  indica),  Bambara  (Apis  dorsata),  Danduwel 
(Apis  Jiorea)—u\\  belonging  to  the  family 
Apidfc — and  the  kana-veyiya  which  belongs  to  the 
family  Trigome. 
Tl'.e  last-named  does  not  demand  much  notice 
as  it  is  practically  of  no  value  as  a honey 
gathei-er.  Mr.  Benton*  describes  them  thus  : 
The  worker  of  this  bee  is  inch  long,  has  a 
large  head  and  a small  blunt  abdomen,  the  wings 
being  longer  than  the  latter.  They  are  black  with 
one  light-coloured  ring  on  the  abdomen,  which 
is  also  light-coloured  underneath,  stingless,  very 
active,  and  gather  pollen  and  honey.  The  strenath 
of  the  worker  is  very  great.  The'  queen  is  dark 
yellow,  and  has  an  immense  abdomen,  her  wings 
not  being  strong  enough  to  lift  her  body  into  the 
air  when  the  ovarie-s  are  filled  with  eggs.  The 
worker  cells  of  this  bee  are  abouc  half  the  size 
and  of  the  shape  of  short,  plump  grains  of  wheat, 
and  arc  placed  in  irregular  bunches  with  x’assages 
between  ; the  pollen  cells  or  honey  cells  are  fully 
* An  American  apiarist  who  visited  Ceyloa, 
