Pruning Mature Trees. 5 
spurs all tend to overbear, and require severe pruning. So to a 
certain extent one can decide for himself how much to prune by ob¬ 
serving how the tree bears its fruit. 
TREATMENT OE WOUNDS. 
The argument in favor of dressing wounds is that it prevents 
decay and checks evaporation, both of which might interfere with 
the healing process. While in our arid climate the first is hardly 
applicable, the second should probably be doubly important. Yet, 
the matter of dressing wounds is not so important, but that work 
improperly done is worse than no treatment. A good lead paint 
is one of the most satisfactory dressings yet found. Rather a thick 
paint should be used, and careless daubing of the surrounding bark 
should be avoided. Grafting wax is a good dressing, but is rather 
expensive and difficult to apply. Other materials have been used, 
some successfully and some disastrously, and the grower is to be 
cautioned about experimenting; better stick to materials known to 
be safe and efficient. Growers often overdo the matter and waste 
time treating small wounds. Surely a wound less than one and one- 
half inches in diameter is not worth bothering with. 
These suggestions apply to wounds made by the careless cul¬ 
tivator, as well as those made by the pruner. Unsightly wounds 
and permanent injury may often be avoided by proper treatment of 
trunk wounds. When the body of the tree is injured the ragged 
edges of the bark should be pared off to sound tissue and the whole 
injury covered with paint or grafting wax. If promptly done, this 
prevents drying out of the tissues, and new bark will readily form, 
except on parts where the outer wood cells are actually destroyed, 
and in time this will grow over. Wrapping the injury with cloth, 
or if it is near the ground, mounding earth up over it will often 
answer the same purpose. 
PRUNING TOOLS. 
Every pruner should be furnished with good tools; good tools 
encourage him to do good work. This does not necessarily mean 
that he must have every tool on the market, many of them are use¬ 
less; it does mean, however, that the axe and a dull saw have no 
place in the catalogue of pruning tools. The pruner needs a good 
saw, a good pair of light shears, a pair of heavy shears, possibly* a 
good heavy knife and, of course, a good ladder. Two common 
types of saws are found on the market. The common saw with 
teeth on both edges is a good, cheap one and will answer the pur¬ 
pose in many cases. The various makes of the swivel saws are 
much handier, however. The blade is stretched between swivels 
and can be turned to any angle with reference to the frame. It is 
well adapted to close work in the crotches of the tree. This type of 
