72 
House & Garden 
, fi 
MacBride 
3 E. 52d ST., N. .Y. C. 
THE HOUSE OF THREE GABLES 
New 
Catalogue 
Wm, A. French & Co. 
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 
tlUUIUllUIIUIIUIUIIIIIIUIlllUIIIlIUlll 
INTERIOR DECORATORS 
AND MAKERS OF 
Fine Furniture 
Tuscan Table . . . $165 
Shirred Shades . . . $27 
Iron Framed Bevelled 
Mirror. 
Pruning Young Trees 
0 Continued from page 70 ) 
in the branches and not in the trunk, so 
the branching must be started where 
the permanent head is desired. The 
advantages of low heading are obvious; 
being close to the ground the tree weathers 
severe storms much better than one with 
high branches; then, too, gathering the 
fruit and pruning and spraying may be 
done mainly from the ground, which does 
away with long ladders. Starting the 
head at about 3' is the common rule for 
apple and pear trees, while peach and 
plum trees are headed even lower. 
The ornamental trees, such as ever¬ 
greens, are started to head very close to 
the ground and the process of pruning is 
exactly reversed. Here a compact 
head is wanted, so the inside bud is the 
last in order that the limbs may grow 
inward instead of outward, as in the case 
of fruit trees. The cutting out of part of 
the top, of course, tends to make the 
growth compact. 
Before doing any cutting, it is well to 
make a study of the tree as a whole, 
determining at the outset which branches 
are to be removed. There must be a 
logical reason in the mind of the operator 
for each cut made. After determining 
what is to be done, work should begin at the 
top and proceed downward, finishing with 
the lower limbs. The pruner has a better 
perspective when he works downward. 
Most of the pruning is done in the first 
five years after the tree is set. The prun¬ 
ing of mature trees is simply a little cut¬ 
ting back of the top and the removing, as 
occasion arises, of a weak or interfering 
limb. Top cutting must be done very 
cautiously on mature apple or pear 
trees; too much heading-in tends to 
produce water sprouts—limbs in unusual 
places—which must be removed as fast 
as they make their appearance; they drain 
the strength of the tree if allowed to 
remain. 
Every tree owner should be able to 
distinguish between fruit and leaf buds, 
and the manner in which they are borne 
on different fruit trees, for the cutting 
away of limbs is largely decided by the 
number and position of the fruit buds. 
These may readily be distinguished 
when the tree is dormant; leaf buds are 
long and pointed, while fruit buds are 
thicker and flattened at the end. In 
apple and pear trees the fruit is borne on 
spurs an inch or more long which appear 
on the limbs. Peach and plum trees 
bear directly on the wood of last season’s 
growth. For this reason the methods of 
pruning would differ. The object with 
the latter would be to produce the 
largest possible amount of strong fruit¬ 
bearing wood. Being short-lived trees, 
such careful scaffolding is not required, 
and more fruit will be produced by severe 
heading-in; the center of the tree should 
be kept open, however. The cherry 
requires little or no cutting. There is an 
old saying that the cherry tree does not 
like the knife. Cherry trees left to them¬ 
selves are always symmetrical, though 
sometimes it becomes necessary to shorten 
the top growth or the tree becomes too tall. 
Shade and ornamental trees require 
different treatment, for the object is 
wood instead of fruit. Any pruning of 
a tree on the lawn should be the “art that 
conceals art.” A natural appearance 
is always more graceful than any set, 
docked effect. Even odd and irregular 
forms give character, providing they are 
natural; they relieve stiffness and formal¬ 
ity, thus softening the outlines of the 
landscape. 
Trees for driveways, or for street plant¬ 
ing in towns and cities, demand a definite 
policy in pruning, faithfully carried out. 
The householder can do this as well as 
the chance professional, if he will but 
study their limitations and the needs 
which they are to meet. Fixing the 
height of the branches above the turf line 
must begin as soon as the tree is planted. 
The tree must grow in diameter in pro¬ 
portion to its height, so that the trunk 
may properly support the branches with¬ 
out bending out of shape or breaking. 
Shade trees should have one central stem, 
with the branches arranged in the manner 
of the apple tree, though, of course, 
many more limbs should be allowed to 
remain, for low branching causes rapid 
growth in thickness. Lower layers are 
removed from time to time until the 
height of io' to 12'of good strong bole is 
reached. Great care should be taken to 
keep the central stem straight clear to 
the top of the tree; firm staking of the 
sapling will do this. 
If the cutting away of the lower tiers 
of limbs is done while they are small, the 
trunk will show no large scars; the healing 
over will leave a smooth, dean surface. 
In sawing off limbs care must be taken 
not to split them and damage the trunk 
below. The cutting should be done as 
close to the trunk as possible, so that no 
snags are left to decay and form cavities 
for nesting rodents. 
Prune when the knife is sharp is an old 
rule, but most pruning is done in the tall 
and winter months when the sap is down; 
the check to growth is less when the tree 
is dormant, and then, too, the framework 
may be studied to better advantage when 
not obscured by leaves. If large limbs 
must be removed it is better to wait 
until spring or summer, as the wound 
heals more rapidly when the tree is grow¬ 
ing. Large limbs should be removed one in 
a season; severe cutting of a growing tree 
might kill it. All wounds made by the 
removal of limbs more than 2" in diameter 
will need a heavy coat of white lead. 
The lover of trees will not have any set 
time for pruning them, though of course 
the main pruning will be done when the 
sap is down; he is constantly cutting away 
a shoot from the base, or an interfering 
limb, and his trees are known by the intel¬ 
ligent care he gives them. There is no 
comparison to be made between trees 
pruned by a doting owner, and those left to 
a series of more or less professional pruners, 
each with a different viewpoint and a ten¬ 
dency to belittle the work of the artist of 
the year before and to start along new 
and untried lines with another end in view c 
Come Out of the Parlor 
( Continued, from page 48 ) 
rather than drudgery. Haven’t you often 
heard the young wife say: “I wouldn’t 
mind house work at all if it weren’t for 
the dishwashing.” 
Then there is the magic—yes, magic— 
electric stove family! There isn’t time 
enough left to tell of some of their wonder 
workings. If you gave one of these 
(costing about $180), you would be giving 
at the same time money, time-to-herself, 
and a rest cure. Some of these stoves 
automatically cook and stop cooking 
while you are out or sleeping, save money 
because they make cheap cuts of meat 
taste like expensive cuts, act as fireless 
cookers and refrigerators and ... I 
will leave the rest to your investigation 
Of course, there are the electric 
laundry appliances, casseroles, ice-cream 
freezers which must be turned and which 
must not be turned, convenient egg 
beaters, buffers, kitchenette articles, and 
countless other things in the line of 
percolators, etc., which are obvious and 
need no mind-jerking from us. 
All these things are gifts of value, 
tremendous helps to the cook and ought 
to be boons to the seeker for something 
to give. 
Be elastic! Come out of the parlor 
and go into the kitchen for a new field of 
giving. 
