Litchfield enquirer., 1835-05-07
PRuriNa FkuIr rRrra.

NH. EDdTOk-AU y"uP paper Ot taee 8ee9s
 observed an article headed " Pruning Fruit
 Trses." It commenced by undervaluing the
 practice of pruning Fruit Trees in autumn.
 winter. or spring. and recommended the drst
 Rfteen days in June! time consider the
 worst for pEaIning. In answer tO that article,
 would here offer the following objections to
 Ihe course recommended:
 A tree is then Gin June,) in its fuIl sap, and
 ;s sure to throw out superaUOUs or side shoots,
 Nany leader is cut OG. or shortened, at that
 season of the year; and it. leader is cut hack,
 which should always be the ease, next to a
 wood bud, it is probable that that bud takes the lead, which ought to have lain dormant
 until the next Spring-ihen destined to make young wood for the next years supply Of fruit. Again, these supernuOus shoots seldom bear fruit the next year, but will frequently attempt it the year after. but the fruit is inva- riably small and I1te, and consequently would prove injurious not only to the rest of the fruit, but the whole Of the tree. Besides, this method will surely be productive of canker and other diseases. And further, the bud
 which now takes the lead, for bud, will cer- tainly burst, owing 10 the redundancy of sap thrown into it and this shoot will not ripen, or properly speaking, harden it's wood preyi- ous fO the setting in of the winters frOsts- lhe. consequence ie, the frost destroys such shoots, upon most kinds of fruit trees, and renders the use of the knife, or amputatiOn necessary in the spring.
 Again, when trees are properly trained. all superluous or side shoots are picked out, as soon as they appear. excepting in the apricot, pear. and cherry, particularly the latter, and in these the stoutest and shortest only are 1 suffered to remain; these being generally SO short aud stubby. as to be termed sp0rs, l which, on the above mentioned trees. bear the l greatest portion of the fruit: this will be ev. | dent on examination. The Grape Vine. a. bOve all other fruits, Ought to receive its gen. eral pruning at the fall or autumn, say after the first W hite frosis have touChed the leaves. so as to cause them to fall. IG however, the pruning of the Grape is delayed unit spring. ihe sap will then be so forward as tO cause ii | 10 bleed, and this fhe gardener will find very difficult to stop for some time; SO that if the grape is gut or shortened in any day cf June or ,July, it is sure to throw out side or superAuOus shoots which sill; seldom or ever (in the mid. de or northern States,) ripen sufficiently to be of any service the next year, though they should be ever 80 we'll protected; consequent ly the knife is necessary in the spring, or as soon as it is perceived which buds are about to pat forth. With the grape, the grand ob- ject of the culiivator is to pick ont all superAu. Ous shoots, and only suffer certain ones, ferm- cd leaders. to attain their flll lepg;h or growth, without being stopped or picked of. if superfuOus shoots are suffered to grow, these generally disappoint the expectations Of the calliyator. with regard to crop ofiruit for the easuing season, even if they are cut out at the fail or spring of the year.
 I could add much against the practice of general trimming on any Of the " first s dGysl cf June;" but it would occupy too much space 10 enter into the details of training each kind offruit free. will conclude these re. marks, by stating. ihat the proper time for pruning and trimming Fruit Trees. ls. rom the time they shew the first bud, uetil the sap has descended; but the greater part of the trimming to be done, is merely to get rid of such shoots as would be injurious, both to the fruit and wood of the ensuing year.
 GILBERT ROTTON.
 Middlesoscn, APrI s7, i8Ss. Seatiael.
 TnE GARDEN.--There are few subjects more apt to excite the surprise of intelligent foreigners, than the almost total neglect of ,, .our farmers to cultivate garden; and the inference they draw from the omission. is neither complimentary to Our good sense. nor our good taste. In most Enr0pean counties well cultivated garden is nut only eovnmon among farmers. hut even the humble eoltager, who lives upon his daily earnings. brides him. self in the neat and cultivated patch that sur. rounds his cottage. which sdassnisters largely 10 the susfenance of his family, and affords st variety of grateful dalieacies, which cheer hls tolls and multiply his enjoyments. But we need not cross the Atlantic for evidence 0f the econemy and comforts of garden. We are not wholly destltute of gardens nor of taste, and there is perhaps no branch of rural improvement that is making greater progress among us than this. We have probably ad- | vanced further in improvement jn horticulture ! during the last twenty years than in the pre- ceding century. The work will progress.
 Who among us that has known the pleas ure ofdaily partaking of fruits and vegetables. in all the variety of our climate. freshly pluck. cd or gathered from hts garden, does not es- teeIn them among the choicest blessings of life Our old men yet remember the time. l when potatoes were haEdly deemed worth cultivating. or when they were considered as innovating upon the settled rules of the farm, and whan half dozen bushels were the extent of a farmer's crop. Net this root b now deemed indispensable, and its cultivation on large seale, cOnsidegea as . AnAateR of economy. Is forms the principal food in countries where it was once unknowU. What the potato was century ago, many Ane fruits ! and garden vegetables are now--treasures unknown tO our farmers.
 The products of kitchen garden material W lessen the consumption 0f more expensive food. sFord grateful sariety for the table. and are highly arOmOlige Of health. They