CHAPTER V, 
Of the Shoots which c%o below the Graft — To‘what Height the Trunk 
of Apple Trees ought to be suffered to Grow, and how to Plough 
among them, to Manure, and to Prune them—Of Forsyth's Composition 
for Curing the Wounds of Trees—Of its Qualities with respect to 
Grafts—Of Miller's Composition for the same Object, and how to sim¬ 
plify it—A Remedy for Decortication. 
It is indispensable to suppress the shoots which grow below 
the graft. They would otherwise consume the sap to no pur¬ 
pose, and make it abandon that precious deposit of art. 
The trunk of apple trees, especially of such varieties as are 
subject to bend down their boughs, ought not to be less than 
six feet high, so that they may be safe against any injury from 
cattle. The fruit undoubtedly suffers a little in consequence 
of this height; but the beauty of the plantation, and the better 
quality of the grass, equally recommends a practice which 
obviates the necessity of cutting the large boughs, as one is 
but too often obliged to do, when the orchard is to be culti¬ 
vated, and which thus essentially tends to its preservation. 
The apple trees may be allowed to be lower, when the ground 
will not admit of being ploughed, as the denseness of the 
air, and the reflection of the sun-beams, will then contribute to 
improve the fruit. 
Plough the ground among the trees, but not deeply, and 
let the manure be put at a certain distance from the foot, as a 
contrary practice would make them decay. It will add to 
their strength by retrenching tiie superfluous branches. 
Without this precaution vegetation exhausts itself to no pur¬ 
pose, and all the parts of the trees are thereby visibly im¬ 
paired. The branches must be gradually thinned. Two or 
three years are not too much for dressing trees of a middle 
age, which had not yet been pruned. As to the old ones, it is- 
no longer time to perform upon them this operation, as it 
would be dangerous to turn out of its usual course the sap, 
which is ready to be dried up of itself. 
The 
