14 
APPLE ORCHARDS.- NO. 5. 
have published it twice already in the Agricultur¬ 
ist, but not one farmer out of a thousand seems to 
have yet heard of it ; for the special benefit there¬ 
fore, of the ignorant nine hundred ninety and nine, 
we intend to insert the remedy two or three times 
more. It is simply this :— 
When the seed is dropped, sprinkle about a pint 
of slaked lime over it in each hill and then cover. 
There is this value about the lime, if it does not 
prevent the rot in the potato, it will be worth its 
cost and the labor of application in fertilizing the 
land. 
APPLE ORCHARDS.—No. 5. 
Pruning .—In pruning apple trees, it is alike im¬ 
portant to regard the general form of their heads, as 
it is the management of their individual branches. 
A system which has long been practised in Europe, 
and has been adopted for many years in the United 
States, is to lead out of the upright stem, at a given 
height, a series of horizontal branches, each series 
comprising four limbs, situated at proper intervals, 
till the tree can bear no more of them. The advan¬ 
tages resulting from this mode, are, that the boughs 
can be made capable of producing fruit at an ear¬ 
lier age ; the strength of such branches, at the place 
of their insertion into the stem, is much greater 
than of those which grow at more acute angles ; and 
that the flat or semi-spherical heads of such trees 
seem designed not only to lessen the hold of the 
wind, but to diminish the influence of the shade on 
the crops around them, as well as to admit light, 
heat, and ventilation within them. It has been re¬ 
commended that the head of the tree be somewhat 
hemispherical, with a hollow 
space left in the line of its 
central parts ; for these parts 
are more secluded from the 
light and air, than the rest of 
the tree, and consequently are 
Fig. 2 . not adapted to the production 
of fruit. In forming the head of a tree in the Atlan¬ 
tic parts of the United States, it has also been re¬ 
commended to diminish the weight and quantity of 
boughs on its east or northeast side (the side oppo¬ 
site to the prevailing winds), as trees generally in¬ 
cline that way ; and to encourage the branches on 
the opposite side to screen the sun from the trunk, 
in order to prevent its powerful rays in summer from 
killing the bark, and causing canker and ruin to the 
tree. Mr. Knight recommends most attention to be 
paid to the lateral branches, which if unchecked by 
occasional pruning, are apt to load the tree too 
much at the extremities. Mr. Joseph Cooper, of 
New Jersey, entertained a similar opinion. “ Young 
fruit trees,” said he, “ should not have the side shoots 
cut close to the stem, which forces the growth the 
whole way up the top ; which becomes so weighty 
as to b@nd and gpoil the trees. I have found it bet¬ 
ter to cut the ends of the side shoots ***** 
which will encourage the growth of the stem or 
trunk, till it acquires (strength to support a good 
top.” After the head of the tree is properly 
formed, nothing more is necessary than to cut out 
all the branches that cross each other, or are likely 
to be in the way within three years. As the trees 
produce their fruit upon cursions or spurs, care 
must be observed not to cut off or destroy them, as 
they continue to be fruitful for several seasons. It 
has also been recommended to “ prune at a fork,” 
or at least, “at a budon the ground that a 
wound is best protected when covered by bark from 
without; and as the bark never spreads over the 
end of a long stump, but only over the place from 
which it has been taken, the new cover must be 
supplied by the extension of the bark of another 
branch, and such a branch, even a bud may become 
in time. Till this extension of bark be effected, 
however, an artificial covering 
should be substi- 
tuted, by shaving the wounded 
surface close and 
smooth, and applying immediately a plaster com 
posed of 
Parts. 
White Burgundy pitch, 
16 
Black pitch, 
4 
Resin, 
4 
Bees’ wax, . 
4 
Tallow, 
Pounded mastic, . 
8 
1 
Saltpetre, 
1 
This mixture should be warmed over a slow fire for 
three fourths of an hour; and when melted, but not 
too hot, be put on with a brush to a depth of one 
sixteenth to one half of an inch in thickness, ac¬ 
cording to the size of the wound. In performing 
these operations, particular care must be observed 
not to injure the remaining branch or bud; and 
should a cut accidentally be made, the wounded 
part should by no means be removed, but be pressed 
fast together, and a coat of the composition imme¬ 
diately laid over it. The bearing capabilities of 
apple trees of considerable age may be much 
improved by judicious pruning, in removing de¬ 
cayed branches, and old, unprofitable boughs, where 
the head is too much crowded These should, in 
all cases, be taken off by a clean cut, close to the 
branch from which they are separated, or at least 
to a lateral shoot, so that the part may heal over as 
soon as possible. 
The proper season for pruning is about midsum¬ 
mer, or about the time the downward motion of the 
sap commences, and when a more perfect cicatriza¬ 
tion of the wounded parts takes place, than if 
pruned in the winter or spring. Another important 
rule in pruning, is, to remove every part of the tree 
“incurably diseased not only because the disease 
may be contagious, but because rottenness of itself 
occasions increased evils, from the weather, from 
insects, and other causes. When the adjoining 
wood and bark pruned to the quick, and properly 
sheltered, room is given, as we have pointed out, 
for a natural cover to be made for the wound. But 
we must repeat, that the wound, if possible, must 
be protected, or the evil may be made worse, from 
various causes. When consistent, the wound oc¬ 
casioned by pruning should be on the lower side of 
the branch, rather than on the upper side; espe¬ 
cially where no composition is intended to be ap¬ 
plied, as the lower side is least exposed to the sun 
and rain. It is a good rule to have no reliance on 
boughs which are kept continually damp by the 
drippmgs of other boughs, or upon those which are 
kept constantly screened from the sun. “ The 
general shape of an old tree” should be kept sub¬ 
stantially the same, in order that the ascending 
juices may continue as nearly as possible in their 
