58 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
often need to have tlieir lower limbs removed. 
This is especially the case with shade trees ; and 
it may be remarked, that all our deciduous trees 
are pruned in the same way, and mainly for the 
same reasons, as those of the orchard. The re¬ 
moval of certain limbs having been decided on, 
the next thing is to remove them. The time 
for pruning has been the subject of much con¬ 
troversy. The best time is after the trees have 
completed their season’s growth; the w'orst 
time is wdien the}'' are growing in spring. There 
are no serious objections to doing it late in the 
winter, provided it is done properly. The work 
with us is usually done with a saw r ; a rather 
narrow-bladed saw, with the teeth set rather 
wide, is best. When the limb is nearly severed 
its weight will break it 
off, and tearing the bark 
make a bad wound. This 
must be guarded against 
by first cutting through 
the bark below, and 
by having the limb sup¬ 
ported until the cutting 
' is completed. It may be 
held up by means of a 
pitchfork in the hands 
of an assistant, or in an}' 
other way that suggests 
itself. It is to be borne 
in mind that every wound made upon a tree, 
unless it heals over properly, sooner or later 
leads to decay; hence too much care cannot be 
taken to avoid accidents like those referred to, 
as well as to put the wound in such a condition 
that the exposed wood will remain sound until 
covered by a new growth of bark. The rough 
surface left by the saw will hold moisture and 
prepare the way for decay, and it should be 
neatly smoothed by the use of a drawing-knife. 
The use of the saw is considered so objection¬ 
able in continental Europe that it is discarded 
altogether. The pruning there is done with a 
serpette, which is a heavj' kuife, much like a 
butcher’s cleaver; the clean surface left by this 
in the hands of an expert operator needs 
very little trimming. The cutting is begun 
first below the limb, and then continued 
above, as shown in figure 3. A chisel, about 
three inches broad, and heavy in proportion, is 
also used in France, and by some good opera¬ 
tors in this country. Stout handles of various 
length are provided for the chisel, and by driv¬ 
ing it up from below with a mallet, limbs of 
considerable size are easily and neatly removed. 
In whatever way the limb is taken off, the 
wound should be covered, to protect the wood 
from the weather. Melted grafting wax is a 
good application, and may be put on with a 
brush. In France coal tar is used, but with this 
we have had no experience. It is important to 
cut so as to leave the smallest possible wound. 
When the branch is at nearly right angles with 
the trunk, cut straight across, and as near to 
the trunk as possible. If the branch is an as¬ 
cending one, making an acute angle with the 
trunk, a cut close to the trunk would leave a 
large, oval wound ; in this case the cut is to be a 
little oblique. We frequently see stubs six 
inches or more in, length, which never should 
be the case. The wood of those projections 
after a few years decays, and the decay is com¬ 
municated to the tree. Figure 1 shows the 
steps in this disaster. A stub is shown in the 
upper part of the figure; in the centre, an at¬ 
tempt of nature to repair the damage, and in 
the lower part, the too common result. A 
wound properly made and covered, heals in a 
few years, with the wood beneath it perfectly 
sound. At the end of the first year a ring of 
new wood and bark is formed, as seen in the 
lower part of figure 2. This ring increases, year 
after year, gradually closing over the w r ound, 
until it appears as shown in the upper part of 
the same figure, and leaves the wood sound. 
- ~ -* » —« - iHi ■ ■ • 
How Lilies are Propagated. 
Tiie Japanese Lilies are so hardy, as w r ell as 
beautiful, that they should become as common 
as the Turk’s Cap and Tiger Lilies. They are 
now all moderately cheap, and if one only has a 
bulb or two to start with, the stock may be 
readily increased. If left to themselves, the 
bulbs become large clumps by natural subdivi¬ 
sion, but this is a slow way of multiplying them. 
If a lily be taken up in autumn, after the leaves 
have withered, there will be found upon the 
stem, just above the old bulb, a, mass of small 
bulbs intermingled with roots. The engraving 
(fig. 1) shows one of our bulbs of the Golden- 
banded Lily (L. auratum) as it appeared when 
taken up last fall. The small bulbs are not as 
numerous here as they often are on stronger 
plants. A dozen, and even more, are frequently 
found. The little bulbs may be removed and 
planted out separately, or the stem to which 
they are attached may be cut off just above the 
old bulb, and set out with the cluster of bulbs 
and roots attached. They should be covered 
the first winter with a few inches of litter. The 
next season they will make strong bulbs. 
Another method of propagation is from the 
scales, of which the lily bulb is mostly made up, 
as seen in figure 1. These scales are attached 
to a solid portion at the base of the bulb, and 
they are broken off close to this, it being im¬ 
portant to get the very base of the scale. The 
outer scales of a bulb may be removed without 
injury to it; indeed the majority of those offered 
for sale by florists have first been deprived of 
their outer scales, which makes the bulb look 
better and at the same time gives them mate¬ 
rial for propagating. The scales are set out in 
an upright position in boxes of sandy compost, 
pressing them down into it until the point is 
about level with the surface. The boxes are to 
be placed in a room where they will be at about 
the temperature of 50° or 60°, and kept just 
moist enough 'to prevent shriveling. In about 
two months a small bulb—sometimes two—will 
be found at the base of each scale, as in figure 2. 
In spring the boxes are plunged in the open 
ground, and the bulbs allowed to grow all sum¬ 
mer ; in the following fall cover them with lit¬ 
ter, and the next spring, if too thick, they are to 
be planted out separately. This manner of 
treatment of the scales is that given by Mr. 
Henderson in his Practical Floriculture. Anoth¬ 
er plan is to mix the scales with moss, (Spliag~ 
num), such as is used for 
packing plants, and place 
them in a box in a warm 
room. They should not be 
so dry as to shrivel nor so 
moist as to be in danger of 
rotting. Tilton’s Journal of 
Horticulture for January 
says, in speaking of Lilium 
auratum , “ Tliauks are due 
to our noble line of steamers 
plying between San Francis¬ 
co and Japan, that this mag¬ 
nificent floral production 
can now be had at prices low 
enough to place it within the 
reach of all.” That will do very well for 
Boston, but thanks to the noble line of ferry¬ 
boats plying between New York and Long Is¬ 
land and New Jersey, our wide-awake cultiva¬ 
tors do not leave us to depend upon far-off Japan, 
with its shriveled bulbs. Thousands of the 
most perfect bulbs arc grown around New York 
by the processes given above, and we com¬ 
mend them to the attention of our cotemporary. 
Apple and Pear Seeds. 
The seeds of the apple and pear will seldom 
germinate satisfactorily if sown when dry. 
They may be mixed with two or three times 
their bulk of sand and allowed to absorb moist¬ 
ure gradually. They should be placed in a 
box where they can be shoveled over to prevent 
heating. Mr. L. Kauffmann, of Johnson Co., 
Iowa, prepares his seed by freezing. In Febru¬ 
ary, he just covers the seed with water, which, 
at the end of 24 or 36 hours, will all be ab¬ 
sorbed ; twice the bulk of sand is added, and 
the mixture of sand and seed placed where it 
will freeze, the boxes containing it being cov¬ 
ered with boards, to keep out rain. The seeds 
should be sown as early as possible in the spring. 
- -—► -— 
The Flower Trade. 
Very few people are aware of the extent of 
the trade in flowers, especially in New York. 
A number of stores at a high rent are occupied 
by those whose whole business is the sale of 
flowers in bouquets, baskets, and other forms. 
A gentleman who is largely engaged in the 
trade himself recently informed us that he had 
no doubt that, during the holiday week, $200,000 
were expended for flowers in New York City 
alone; one florist’s sales w r ere $10,000. To sup¬ 
ply this demand requires many glass structures, 
which, in some cases, are extensive ranges de¬ 
voted to the purpose, growing a large number of 
kinds; but mainly the flowers come from small 
establishments, where but few varieties are 
grown. In one of the suburbs of New York, 
the production of flowers forms a large item in 
the industry of the place. Camellias arc most 
in demand, and the flowers sell from 15c. to 
50 cents each, according to the season. In the 
week preceding the last New Year’s Day, there 
was a great scarcity of these flowers, and par¬ 
ties came from Albany and other places in the 
