Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1852-10-21
Agricultural.
Pruning.

Few of the duties of the farm are so bad.
Iy performed as that Of pruning-bad in
the manner in which it is done, and in the
season of the year usually selected for the
operation. Trees are living, sentient things
and must be treated as such. Their young
bark is as vulnerable to hob nail boots as
the back of the hand, and as easily mutiIa-
ted by dull saw or knife. No skillldl
surgeon would amputate limb with dull
instruments, or leave the bleeding wound
exposed to the air; but many farmers who
have pruned for forty years, and think they
" know thing or two" about it, do both
Away with the axe. the coarse saw and all
dull tools about your trees, and in their
place use those Of the best make, and with
edges as keen as Damascus blade
Every wound that is made should be
covered; if the tree is vigorous and the
place small, it will probably grow over, but
covering greatly aids the effort of The tree in
perfecting its outer garment. Paint, clay,
gum shelIac and cloth are certainly excel
Ien'. The sheIIac is dissolved in alcohol
and applied with brush the cloth is COW
cred with grating wax made rather soft
and applied with brush while warm. A
strip of this tied rou d wound, or patch
stuck on over it, will greatly facilitate the
healing process.
Ninety orchards out of every hundred
are mutiated aud injured in being 'ri"'",od.
Limbs that ought to be cut off are preserv-
ed and those that ought to be retained are
taken away Some are sawed partly of
and allowed to drop, tearing away the wood
and bark from the under side and leaving a
ragged and ghas,y wound, that never heals
but brings premature decay. This is strong
language, we are aware, but careful III
spection of most old orchards will confirm
1t.
There is need of but very little pruning
where an orchard has been properly man
aged from the start; no large limbs will ever
need to be taken away, unless broken by
winds, or injured in some other way. Prant
but little, is good motto. Suffer the shoot:
which start out on young trees to remain
till autumn, when they have shed lheil
leaves. The tree needs them, and nature,
ever ready with her helping hand, sends
them out to aid the leaves of the top in
celebrating the sap and increasing the
whole growth of the tree. We find in an ex
change a case in point which we give as con
frmatory of our theory. A correspondent
of the Prairie Farmer, published at Chi
cago, Illinois, states that he pruned young
apple trees four to six feet high, early il
spring, and then kept the shoots rubbed of
the lower parts of the stems, leaving only
suitable heads,-on one hall the trees. The
others were left with their shoots untouched
from top TO bottom, The result was, thai
those which received 10 summer pruning
were 25 to 40 per cent. larger than the 9th
ers, even after they were pruned to heads The
following spring. So it may be noticed II
older trees that when most of the limbs are
cut off in the process Of grating, large
numbers of suckers are thrown out, and We
believe for the same purpose that shoots OF
young trees, to keep up a proper circuIa
ton and balance in its powers.
AS to the best time for pruning apple
trees, we have no doubt. From persona
experiment made for several years. from re
liable books, conversations with practica
men, and pretty extensive examination o
orchards, we are fully of the opinion tina
the autumn, after the leaves have fallen, i
the most proper time. e. Farmer.