The true Democrat., 1857-03-24
When and How to Prune.

every season ot the year. LOudon says. "the penod Immediately befure or commensurate with, the rising of the sap, Is the best For syth recommends "April or Nav" kenrlck. that ntervei between the time when the frost IS out ol the ground In spring, and the opening ot the leaf Cole says the spring is the best, and moderate pruning may be performed from June to December. Downing recommends "a fortnight before mid summer as the best season on the whole, III the northern and middle States" Barry says that with sone excpp. tions, pruning should be done |" as soon as the severe frosts are Over-sav the latter end of February and beginning of March," A witty clercal hortlcuIturlst Is said to have given his advise "to prune Wtea your tools are starph'
 50 far as practice goes, the argument IS cer- tainly Tn favor ot spring pruning, full three fourthS of all this work being done at that sea son. This Is a time of com nparative leisure for the farmer and gardner. The bark of trees i, then less likely to start under the orchardIst's boot and less likely to peel off where a limb is removed. We do not admit the argument of some writers, that as the sap in early surjnp has the strongest ascending impulse, and Is de. slgned to promote growth Of wood wounds made at this season will soon be healed For this sap Is not in a condition to heal wounds until 1t has been elaborated by the Ie,yes of summer. When large limbs must be taken off summer is, on the whole, the best season. pro vded the work isdone carefully, and the wound covered with sralting wax or shellac dissolved iu alcohol. If small trees are pruued late in the fall, or in midwimter, Cat the north, the ends of the shoot, shrivel and die, and the terminal bud is injured, if not killed. If large trees are pruned tnen, the suml's often decay, unless covered, and rarely heal over for many years. lfpruning is done in midsummer upon healthy trees, the wound heals rapidly, because the de- scendIng sap Is then ln fine condition for de- posting woody fbre Light pruning mar be safely recommended for this season. Well would 1t be if trees were so managed when young, as not to require the amputaton of large limbs at any subsequent period; for certainly 1t is great waste of time and of the trees forces to grow crop of limbs only to hew them of again.
 The young apple tree and standard pear need lttle pruning except to remove struggling and cross branches; and even this can often be an tcipated by timely piaching. The dwarf pear tree needs more attention Tn order to give 1t proper shape, and to promote its fruitfulness.
 When young tree is taken from the nur- sery, it Is often destitute of the lower branches needful to give the tree pyramidal shape. The first thing to be done is to head back tho tree in spring, so as to develope branches within from one to two feet of the ground If any push out lower than this, they should be rubbed off This first severe pruning is of the greatest i'm portance. If neglected, the sap will push up into the topof the tree, leaving a naked trunk below, thus defeating a prime object in the culture of dwarf trees. Use the knife, then, faithfully at first: get broad, strong base for your pyramid, and the remainder of your work will be satisfactory. During the first sea son branches will push out, on healthy tree. from ten to fourteen inches long. If they be- come too thick, the weaker should be rubbed off, so as to ecouomlze the forces of the tree, and to regulate it's shape. Select the most vigorous branch near the top for leader, and cheek several branches below 1t, bv a sliyht pinching of their extremties in summer. so as to give a greater advantage to the leader, and to the branches at the base
 Early in the second spring. all the young shoots should be cut back; the lowest to within six or eight inches of the trunk, the next above four or five, and so on, tapering tc the leader. which should be cut back only about one-haif it's length During the second summer the voung shoots which start fiom the horizontal
 
 made growth of two or three bnds-al,oaus e1ceping the lender of each branch, which shcuId be allowed to grow the whole season. In the following spring, iE should be cut back to three or four buds of the new wood.
 This checking of the side shoots causes an accumulation of organzable matter in the short branches, and converts them into ruit-spurs.- The leading shoot of the two should be allowed to extend itself upward from the topmo,t bud. and to send out side branches. Ii any conti guous shoot tries to dispute for pre- eminence with the leader, it must be subdued by pinching.
 In the thiri spring and summer, the pruning should proceed in the same way. The lower branches should be moderately cut back, the higher more'closely, and so upward, preserving a regular, taperlng outline, terminating in sin. gle shoot at the top. The leaders, both Of the side branches and of the tree itself, should be allowed to grow during the summer so as to extend the tree on all sides, and to use up the superintendent sap. The shoots on the side branches should be checked, so as to favor the production of fruit buds. All weak and cross branches should be removed whenever they appeaE This general treatment having been pursued six or seven years, the tree will have attained desirable size, and will require nc further pruning except to keepit in good shape and vigor If it becomes too fruitful for irs permanent health, the fruit spurs must be thin. ned out; fit runs too much to wood, the branch es must be pruned more severely, if it can be done skillfully.
 If pear trees, both dwarf and standard, were more generally trained as pyramids-thus cloth. sxx. xb~s. k.s.s> .s.sS VI,