THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
81 
| October 31. 
three hours in a week, you will have spent the same 
time as if you had commenced some morning at six 
o’clock and road to six, and continued to do so for 
thirteen days-and-a-half. All this time you probably 
would, if not reading, have spent in idleness and folly. 
Resolve, then, at once to make a beginning, and let 
nothing that you can possibly avoid hinder you from 
j persevering. 
| The inquiry may be made, “ What am I to read, study, 
and inwardly digest?” As a matter of course, I re- 
commend you to read The Cottage Gardener, and 
you may also read the Gardeners Chronicle, and some 
work on Natural History. I would also recommend 
historical works, especially the history of your own 
country, and also books of travels. These are eminently 
useful, especially such where the author speaks of the 
natural production of the countries he describes. Such 
a book, for instance, as that written by Mr. Fortune, 
giving an account of the gardens and plants of China, 
is both interesting aud useful. I was never at a loss 
i how to treat a plant if I knew the climate of the 
j country it came from. Hence the study of Geography 
| is particularly desirable to gardeners; let works of that 
kind, then, be read. I will only add this, when you have 
fixed upon and procured a book that you are satisfied 
will advance your knowledge, read it, and finish it 
before commencing another. 
There are books that you should read on the dis¬ 
cipline of the mind, the regulation of the conduct, and 
improvement of the manners. Such, for instanco, as 
I “ Foster’s Essays.” Religious works I leave to your own 
! discretion. To reading these I have left the Sabbath- 
j day for you. I trust every young man, in every garden, 
; either is, or will be, a good Christian. To such, the 
j papers by the authoress of “My Flowers” will be 
j welcome, and read with avidity; and of such men, all 
I will bear this testimony—the better the servant of his 
Heavenly Master, the better the servant of his earthly 
one. 
In order to fix the knowledge obtained from any book, 
commence and keep a diary of what you read, something 
in this manner.—Monday, Nov. G, began to read Fortune’s 
“Travels in China,” read threo chapters; describe con¬ 
tents, and so on, till the book is finished, then give your 
opinion, and summary of the book. This method will 
fix the contents of the book in your mind, will cause 
you to exercise your memory, and will also improve 
your writing, if not already good. This diary should 
be kopt neatly, and quite clean, aud will be of great 
use to you in various ways. I shall have to write on 
i diaries hereafter, and, therefore, I only just hint at this 
one in connection with reading. 
Let me, iu concluding this paper, tell you, that though 
all this may at first appear a formidable business, it 
will, as you diligently proceed, become easy, and bring 
you a great reward, aud that is the consciousness that 
you are making good use of that most precious gift— 
time; a most comforting idea; you will feel an inward 
satisfaction, that no trouble, or disappointment, or 
senseless ridicule, can rob you of. T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.') 
WOODS AND FORESTS. 
THE ASH. 
(Continued from page 01.) 
Pruning for Timber Trees. —As the trees advance 
in growth the pruning must be regularly attended to. 
j This is a most important operation, for upon it being 
I properly performed, and at the right season, depends 
! the production of good sound timber in the least space 
! of time. Where the trees stand wide apart they produce, 
if not pruued, large branches almost rivalling the main 
stem itself in bulk. In such a case, it requires no great 
amount of sagacity to understand that a great loss to 
the main stem has occurred. The nutriment to grow and 
support so many large branches is, in a great measure, 
wasted in producing branches that should or might 
have been (if the branches had been cut off whilst 
young) used to increase the bulk of the stem. Now, 
though this pruning is undoubtedly beneficial, yet it 
must not be carried to excess. Close to where I live 
there is a plantation of Ash, and other kinds of lmrd- 
wooded trees, that stand very thick; somebody said 
they wanted pruning, and forthwith it was done ;' every 
branch, even to the smallest twig, was cut off close to 
the stem to within a few feet of the top. The trees 
then looked like as many fishing-rods ornamented 
with a bunch of feathers at the small end. This was 
pruning with a vengeance. Any country-Johnny might 
have done it. What the consequence will be, any one 
who thinks at all, and has any knowledge of the func¬ 
tions of loaves, may easily foresee. Depriving a tree of 
all or nearly its small branches, aud, consequently, of its 
leaves, is a cruel and wasteful deprivation of the organs 
by which the woody matter of the tree is deposited in 
the main stem. The pruning away all the branches is 
almost as great an error as leaving them all on. A 
clean, straight stem is, undoubtedly, desirable, and 
especially in the Ash, but then a sufficient number of 
small branches should be left to produce leaves, aud 
shelter the stem from the heat of summer and the cold 
of winter, and also for the important purpose of gather¬ 
ing from the atmosphere support and tlio peculiar gas 
that nature has provided, by which the solid matter, or 
woody fibre of the tree is formed. These remarks lead 
to the conclusion, that in pruning the Ash the strong 
branches only should be cut off. By strong, I mean 
such branches as would, if left on, become largo limbs; 
such as will rob the main stem of the support it ought 
to have. When these small branches become so large 
as to interfere with the general economy of the tree, 
then they may be shortened into small branches near 
the bole; and, finally, as more branches of a similar 
size are produced, they should be close pruned off. 
These should never be allowed to become larger than 
an inch in diameter. The Ash, however, seldom sends 
forth small spray like the Elm. In the iustance of 
injudicious pruning, above referred to, the Elms have 
produced, all the way up the naked stem, hundreds of 
small twigs, hence, the mischief of severe pruning will 
not be so great as in the case of the Ash. 
The best season for pruning this tree is the mouth of 
February, and for this reason, the wounds made by the 
knife or saw are not exposed so long as they would be 
if pruned in autumn. If cut later, there is danger of 
their bleeding, and thus wasting the sap which, like the 
blood of animals, is the life of the tree. If the season 
is cold aud backward, the pruning may be continued to 
the middle of March ; but the moment the sap begins 
to flow the pruning should cease. After the sap is 
risen, and the tree is full of leaves, the pruning may bo 
finished. Indeed, summer pruning of many kinds of 
timber trees may bo advantageously done in July; the 
advantages being, that at that time of the year tho 
woodmen have plenty of time; and, also, the wounds 
made at that season become partially healed over before 
winter sets in. The.ro is one remark I must not forget 
before I quit the subject of pruning, and that is, that 
all wounds, whether made by the knife or tho saw, 
should bo pared perfectly smooth, to throw off the water 
when it rains; for, if there are any rough places left that 
will retain it, that part of the wood swells, and, when it 
dries, cracks, and these cracks hold still more water, until, 
at last, it penetrates deep into the tree and decays the 
wood; such trees, when sawn up, have a great deal of 
waste in them only lit for fuel. 
