Monongalia mirror. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1855, 1853-02-05
Agricultural Department.
PRUNING.

The editor of the Ncw-EaglanA
Farmer writes as follows. on this i'm
portan, subject. He is very good au-
thority: .--,,aa a.r
Few of the duties of the farm ore so
badly performed as that Of pruning
bad in the manner in which it is done,
and in the season Of the year usually
selected forthe operation. Trees are
Living, sen,ient things. ndgmrst be
treated as such. Their young barl; is
as vulnerable to hob.nail boots as the
back Of thehand; and as easily mutt
lated by u dull saw or knife. No
skilful 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 the" y"kuow
a thing or two" about it, do both
They have seen the tree put on its
green livery in spring, blossom, per-
feet its fruit and increase in stature,
and when it had performed its labors
for the season, throw off the foliage
which it no longer needed, and spread
its broad limbs resis,less to the winter
winds. Thus they have seen it live
and breathe, and grow, and yet never
seem to have appreciated it as living
friend, inviting them to its shade, re-
ealing them with its fruits, and almost
speaking in accents ofaffec,ion!.
Away with the axe, the coarse saw,
and all dull tools about your trees, ,and
in their places use those of the best
make, and with edge as keen as Da'
mascus blade. q,
Every wound that is made should
be covered: ifthe tree is vigorous,and
the place small, it will probablygrow
over. but covering greatly aids the et'
fort fthe tree in perfectingi its outer
garment. Paint, clay, gum.shellae
and waxed cloth are used forthis pur-
pose; the shellac and cloth are Ger
tainly excellent, The shellacis dis
solve d in alcohol and applied with O.
brush; the cloth is spread withgraft.
| ing wax made rather soft, and applied
with brush while warm. A strip OF
this tied round a wound, orsaPaich
stuck on over it, will greatly facilitate
the healing process. To3 q. s7's~ g<i
|. Ninety orchards ou. of every hun
dred are mutilated and injured in be-
ing trimmed. SLimbsthat onghtte.he
cut off are preserved, and those that
ought to be retained are taken away!
Some are sawed!partly of, and allow.
ed to drop, tearing away the wood and
bark from the under side, and leaving
a ragged and ,ghastly wound, that
never heals, but brings premature do
cay. This is strong language, we are
aware. but a careful inspection Of
most old orchards will confirm it. I'll,
There is need of but very little pru-
uing where an orchard has been'prop-
erly managed from the start, no large
limbs will everneed to be taken away
unless broken by winds or injured in
some other way. Pruae but little, is
a good motto. Suffer the shoots
which start out on young trees to re.
main till autumn, when they have
shed their leayes. The tree needs
them. and Nature, ever ready with,
llerlhelping hand, sends them out to
aid The leaves Of the top in elaboral-
ing the sap and increasing the growth
ofthe tree We find in an exchanges
case in point, which we give nsc con-
frmatory Of our theory. A cores
pondent of the Prairie Farmer. pub
iished at Chicago, Illinois, states that
he pruned young apple trees four to
six feet high, early in Spring, and then
kept the shoots rubbed off the lower
parts of the stems, leaving only suita.
BILE heads, on one half thetrees. The
others were left with their shoots un-
touched from top to bottom. The re-
suit was, that those which received no
summer pruning were 25 to 40 per
cent larger than,the others, even af-
ter they were pruned up to heads the
following spring, So it may be no.
l,iced in 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 are on
young trees.-to keep proper cir
culation and balance in its powers.
As to the best time for pruning ap-
pie trees, we have no doubt. From
personal experiments made forseyeral
wears, from reliable books, conyersa-
, , tions with practical men, aud pretty
: extensive examination of orchards,wc
are fully Of the opinion that the an-
tumn, after the leaves have fallen, is
The most proper time. Where we
have carefully pruned at this season.
it has never been followed by a flow
ing of tho sap and that discoloration
Of the bark which follows spring pru.
ming. The wounds either heal over
or become SO dry and hard as to pro.
vent decay, and the tree seems to sus-
tain no check or injury whatever.