1881.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
205 
southern cities. From our experience with 
it, we judge that it will be of no use in the 
open ground in northern localities. The fruit 
is sent from Maderia to London, and should 
it he desirable, it might readily be sent from 
our Southern States, but thus far we have not 
had a chance to thoroughly test its quality. 
The Time for Pruning Evergreens. 
Many of our readers can remember when 
no one thought of pruning an Evergreen with 
the view of bringing it into shape, save to 
cut away the lower limbs, and bring it out of 
nil decent shape. By evergreens, we now re¬ 
fer to the cone-bearing trees, and not to hol¬ 
lies, rhododendrons, and other broad-leaved 
evergreens. Several recent letters ask the 
proper time for pruning these trees. A more 
important question should take precedence of, 
and also decide that—namely—“ Why prune 
at all ? ” No one should cut a branch, large 
or small, evergreen or deciduous, without 
having a clear idea of what he does it for. 
Pruning may be done to accomplish the most 
opposite ends. We may prune to promote 
growth of limb, or we may prune to check 
the growth, and so on. Let us say, in the 
first place, whatever else is done to an ever¬ 
green, do not cut it away below. Left to 
themselves, these trees form pyramids of ver¬ 
dure of the greatest beauty. A tree with its 
broad base resting upon the ground, and ta¬ 
pering gracefully upwards, is a most pleasing 
object, and gratifying in its symmetry and 
apparent stability to every person of taste. 
Cut away the lower limbs, leaving a naked 
trunk of 6 or 8 feet, and all beauty and sym¬ 
metry are destroyed, and we have an object 
as graceless as a hay-cock upon a gate-post, a 
horticultural horror. This treatment is often 
excused by the plea that the trees were at 
first planted too closely, and now light and 
air are shut out, hence this cutting away of 
the lower branches. We admit the necessity 
for light and air, but have seen no case of 
close planting which might not be better rem¬ 
edied by taking out a portion of the trees al¬ 
together, than to mutilate all by removing 
the lower branches. If trees are too near the 
house, either remove or cut them down—but 
do not cut them up. There is no proper time 
for pruning of this kind. If a tree grows 
one-sided, or irregularly, and it is desired to 
have an increased growth at any point, the 
proper way to secure this is to cut the branch¬ 
es back to induce a new growth to push vig¬ 
orously. Priming for this purpose should be 
done when the season of growth is well ma¬ 
tured in early autumn. If the irregularity is 
due to an excess of growth, and it is neces¬ 
sary to repress this, then the proper time to 
do it is immediately after the growth in length 
has been completed, but before the wood has 
become hardened and matured. Much may 
often be done to improve the form of a tree, 
and fill out their places by bending some of 
the branches and tying them in the proper 
position, taking care that the ligatures are 
no where so tight as to check the enlarge¬ 
ment of the branches. If held thus for a 
few years, they will retain their position. 
The pruning of evergreen hedges is governed 
by the same rules. In the first year's of a 
hedge, we wish it to grow as quickly as may 
be to the required hight, therefore if the 
growth can any where be encouraged by cut¬ 
ting back, it is to be done in early autumn. 
In the climate of New York, October is the 
proper time. When the hedge is as high 
and broad as desired, we then wish to repress 
further growth, and the main pruning is 
done so soon as the spring’s growth has been 
made, but while the shoots are still tender. 
Cutting in that state tends to check the 
growth. In localities similar in climate to 
New York, June is the month for this, which, 
in an established hedge, is the most impor¬ 
tant pruning, that performed in the fall being 
merely to correct and preserve the shape. In 
cutting all horizontal branches, half an inch 
or more in diameter, make a sloping cut on 
the underside of the branch, so that in 
looking down upon it, the wound is not seen. 
Zinc Labels. 
Sheet zinc, from its indestructibility, and 
the ease with which it may be cut and man¬ 
aged, is a favorite material for tree and shrub 
labels. If cut in the form of a very long ta¬ 
pering wedge, the smaller portion may be 
coiled around a twig, or small branch, and 
thus avoid the use of a wire, and where the 
small end of the label is coiled around a small 
branch, it will yield to the increase of that in 
size, and not cause strangulation. The old 
method with zinc labels was to write upon 
them with an ink made of some salt of cop¬ 
per, and several have asked for the formula 
for preparing it. The original ink was made 
with Verdigris and Sal-ammoniac, of each 2 
drams, Lamp-black 1 dram, Water 4 oz. As 
these need to be well rubbed together, it will 
be as well to let the apothecary mix them in 
a mortar. This is to be used with a quill pen 
upon the surface of zinc that has been made 
clean and bright by the use of emery paper. 
We have been informed by our correspon¬ 
dent “ Horticola ” that a strong solution of 
Sulphate of Copper—“Blue Vitriol,” or 
“ Blue-stone,” will answer the same purpose, 
adding a little gum water to the solution, if 
need be, to prevent the ink from spreading. 
The use of the lamp-black in the ink first men¬ 
tioned, is only to make the ink visible while 
writing with it. In both these cases, the cop¬ 
per is, by chemical action, deposited upon the 
zinc, and, becoming oxidized, makes a per¬ 
manent and conspicuous writing. Another 
and much simpler method is simply to write 
upon a clean zinc surface with a common lead 
pencil. By the action of the air the zinc be¬ 
comes tarnished and grayish, while the black 
lead prevents any such change where the 
writing is, and though not so conspicuous as 
that written with the ink, is quite as perma¬ 
nent,and being much less trouble is preferable. 
Substitute for Pea Brush. —Of all 
the devices for training peas without brash, 
by far the most satisfactory of the many we 
have tried, is that suggested by Mr. Z. Mills, 
Jr., in our pages for May, 1878. Round, or 
half-round, posts, six inches in diameter, are 
firmly set at each end of the row. Galvan¬ 
ized iron-wire, No. 18 is used, taking a turn 
around the posts, thus making two parallel 
wires six inches apart. Two of these wires 
are put on when the peas are about six inches 
high, or before they fall over. When the 
vines reach 6 or 8 inches above the first pair 
of wires—or when they seem to need it, two 
more wires are put on, and so on. If the 
rows are very long, some support by stakes 
or laths may be given ; with our own rows of 
200 feet, one support in the center was found 
to be sufficient. With care in using them, 
the wire and posts will last for several years. 
Some Garden Helps. 
Reel for the Garden Line. —Straight 
work, in the garden, the laying out of beds, 
the proper alignement of rows and blocks, if 
possible without a line, are greatly facilitated 
by one, and the convenience in using depends 
largely upon the kind of reel. Those usually 
sold have been, for years, so worthless that 
we have sometimes preferred to use a couple 
of sharp-pointed sticks to being annoyed with 
the inefficient old iron. We have given sev¬ 
eral engravings for reels, both of wood and 
iron, some of which could be home-made. 
We now give another, sent by Mr. J. Stew¬ 
art, of Allegheny Co., Pa., which will serve 
as a guide to the blacksmith. The center-post 
or stake of the reel is of 6 / e -inch round iron ; 
the reel proper, or the part which carries the 
line, is made in one piece of iron an inch 
REEL FOR TnE GARDEN LINE. 
wide by '/ 8 -inch thick. A large eye is formed 
in which to place the ball of the foot, and 
force the stake into the ground ; just above 
this a washer is shrunken on, upon which the 
reel revolves. The pin for the end of the line 
is provided with an eye like that on the shaft. 
A Rake and Roller, for use in liot-beds 
and other seed-beds, is made from a mallea¬ 
ble-iron rake. Two teeth are taken out of 
each end, and a roller of hard-wood, with an 
iron pin in each end is provided. One end of 
the back being turned up at right angles, one 
of the pins of the roller is placed in the up¬ 
permost hole, and the roller secured by turn¬ 
ing up the other end to engage the other pin 
as seen in the engraving. A handle of con¬ 
venient length is attached to the rake portion 
of the implement. The engraving of this is 
GARDEN RAKE AND ROLLER. 
also from a drawing by Mr. Stewart, who 
writes that he finds it very convenient in 
seed sowing. Labor-saving devices like these 
are of great value to every person who de¬ 
sires to have a neat and profitable garden. 
