The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1859-03-05
agricultural.
RenorEt;nE Old Apple Orchards.


"Wha' can | do With my Apple trees q
asks SGll"lk cor, eSpnndent they are old
trees IN all old orchard At one time hci,
lInit was good and fit for market but now
and for lnany years past, they are cankered.
and messy. and weak. and their fruit is for
the most part unsuitable. MY gardiner saws
That tins has been caused by neglect of pruning
scientifically! am rather afraid CT 50 great
word from the mouth Of n man who A..
though worthy young fellow. seems to me
to have nothing scientific about him. And
besides | remember fruit trees in that Ample
county, when prnncd upon scientific primer
pies, were beautiful specimens of art. vet that
! lhoy had the fault of bearing some little
fruit"
We fear that our Suffolk friend will find
little favor i'll the eyes of those gardener. who
believe that all manner Of virtue RESIDES in A
pruning knife and narrow saw, and whose
greatest pride is to cut their ,ers into won.
drlfn'iy regular forms. And yet he is insri.
fled in hi, ,p,rehcnsons for there can be
! 10 doubt that more harm is done by over.
pruning, than can arse from leaving trees TO
the nndls,n.hed operation Of natn,sl processes.
In The latter case indeed fruit may be smsl
and bad; hut in the former it is as likely to
be altogether absent, while the health oftrees
is irrctreL.'ly uintd.
There is no branch If gardening in which
experienced or hncifnl persons do more harm
than in pruning. They seem 10 folxet that
fruit trees are sr,wn for the sake OF their
fruit and not As objects Of decnrs ton, and
tina, three ends, and t!ree only, are TO be gain.
I'd BY the operation and tina, is to say, in
crease of quantity. improvement Of quality.
and better rlrsnins. Nothing but skll,ful
pruning will Effect these pu, poses: urskilful,
in which is TO be INCLUDE, unnecessary prun-
ing. has a directly opposite tendency. In
short, the golden rule in this case i, not 10
be prnncd at all II ii can be aroidrd Pruning,
how ever. is unavoidable: but it should be
had recourse to as little as POS ihle. As to
ovcrprunnrg, it is we rerest fsr worse than
no pruning At all One thing is certain. that
the more Apple trees are prun.d the less
lhcy bear; and the same may be said Of pea,
trees.
The author Of one Of our best practical
works having d,>cIited how an Arpe tree
should be managed for the frs, three or four
years, remarks. after this nothing more i'll
be necessary than to louk ll,m (the trees)
over from time to time, cutting out carrfuI;,,
any surc redundant Lronthes that mpy apncar,
particularly those which have a tendency to
lnjnre the proper figure Of the head. are likely
10 become stronger than the rest these latter.
if suffered to remain, will iniurc any dcscrip.
,ion Q! rec. whether it he \ standard. an es.
ps'icr, or whether it hc trained against wall.
This is the best advice that can be given TO
those who have tho management Of Annie
trees in AN orchard. 1t is like the WORTHY
Mr. Glasses instructions to e" let them alone. ~
But orr Suffolk cnIrcArurh trees are IN a
State Of r"in. They sem to- he lik. the
lIrvonet.s!e trees. which Mr. H.,ti.d d, services
with heads TAGGED and matted together :,
as TO set both san and air At dsfancc: lv.
~ood struggling for existence amongst the
dc.d and al ho.ry with moss and premature
old age
With such trees the pruning knife and saw
mast he used unSrari, civ: and if that is
what orr Suffolk correspondents gardener
means by scientifically we agree with
him. Not that there is much science in the
operation. The FIRST thing 10 "a Is to cut
down to the quick every dad branch, limb
or spur: they Can d. NJ good, and a-e mis-
chlrvous on account u the interruption they
offer to san and air which are IS necessary
to the tree rs to the gardener. Until that
has been done ,ivc1Ood should r,mam Nh
! touched. Seeondig rs snon as the dead wood
is gone, and the gardener can see disfin,"y
what he has to work upon, he should prune
out every shoot that whips or CROSSES or rlhs
against another, so as to leave plenty Of room
between the shoots: foot is not too much.
In dong this the weakest shoots should be
removed. 1hidly all the thinning having
h,en done, the end of each branch should be
stopped by removing more or less OF it accord.
ing to It's strength. Fowthiy after the stop
ping all loose bark ard moss should be scra
ped otlthc branches ard main stem with N,
blade Of an Old hoe or same such hlunt edge
and the Scrapings should Ic burnt. In this
way alone CAN insects with their eggs be dos.
| tIoytd with certainty. Such scraping can de-
no harm; and in addition to the removal OF
| insects it enables The tree to breathe more
freely, very important matter, for living
bark is as much a portion of an Apple trees
lungs as the leaves are. This done, ski can
60 no further, and it is only necessary after.
wards to leave the tree to its vita. powers
watching however how the new shoots grow
and cutung out from time 10 time ali such as
i'll any way whip chafe, or cross zach other
| In these remarks the state Of the soil is moi
noticed. II however thee is any doubt abou
its beng thoroughly drained, that alsl must b,
carefully looked to, for no Apple trees car
retain their Leath in wate,loeged ground
Nci,htl eau they prosper when soil is exhaus
ted ofali It's nulf:tivc rs plenty ofdl caytd leaf
mound, hunt weeds, or any similar material
should be employed. Strong alnmoniacal
manure is 10 Le avoided.
Gardeners Chron,tlcr.