The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-02-06
lofty INTELLIGENCE,



Last evening the horticultural Socot 80 ~.
nIsI lree lecture, OF a series of twelve 10 be do
nNeIeu the hrst Tuesday nipnt i'm each NOAH
t uuatng Ihe year. IL has engaged twelve of the
TJpion tnr thg gu,shed hortlculturalists in the
dte dne FhHosophg Of Pruning" was the subject
Toa.tu sne essay last evening, by DR.. Stayman. of
eShTgmworsn, each laS, Kansas. He observed that, as
oshers, and with external circumstances IL vvas
therelofe very useful for the pruner 10 under
stand the relations of each part
,l ne Illustrated tins in the case of a seed ex
p'aned the relation OF the embryo to the see /.
leaves, and these again to the azote i'm the soii
anu anu lhe suns rays, through the atmosphere. a
que proportion OF and relation between nil
Delng necessary to perfect success
Ihe terminal buds of a tree we're "the nrime
conductors OF electricity the roots spreading
out ID the direction Of the greatest moisture to
eonouct the current rapidly Off, at the same
time returning to the plant the fluids contain
ing the elements necessary to the plants strnc
ture. Thus the cells are built up by elongations
ID the direction of the extremities by electrical
iolVe, 9therWlse the tree would expand laterally,
instead OF in length. Weakening the electrical
or lengtnenlne force produces fruit spurs
PIunlng checks growth until new buds are
formed. IL is so much time lost 10 the life of
the tree which it can never recover One-haIf
the bulk OF plant is absorbed from the atmo-.
sphere; the organs Of absorption must there.
fore, be kept healthy.
AhS pdlIiCuldI IOIn WnlCn plant naturally
taxes Is the best tor its healthy development:
pruning should, therefore, always preserve the
natural form, as nearly as may be- Pruning by
Chetklng vitality, hastens maturity, but it is at
the expense of longevity.
DIR. Stayman proceeded to apply these princi.
pies TO practice, by giving a great many in
stances Where pruned plants had been matched
against unpruned ones under similar circnm
stances, and all resulted in proving that the
unpIuned trees were the superiors of the others
IN vlgor and power OF endurance.
he then referred to the popular theories of
pruning, particularly to the essay of Dr. John
A. Warder, before the Pennsy ylvania Horticul-
tural Society last year, and published in full in
the August number of the Gardeners MOntIiu
when he styled lone of the ablest and most
concise eXpositioDs ever made.n His principal
objections to DR.. Warder's views WERE that
pruning is an unnatural operation, not war
ranted by anything we find in a state of nature
winch state he considered the most harmonious
1or the general health and longevity OF the tree
and, therefore, that pruning was only of second
airy, and not primary Importance, as DR.. War
der insisted on.
He also thought that the upward tendency in
trees which DR.. Warder thought an evil, TO be
corrected by pruning, was rather to be en-
cOuraged than repressed His principal point
against DR.. Warder was that while he under
stood him to advise pruning to make trees grow
vigorously" in reality he said pruning threat
ened the life of the tree.
He next proceeded to discuss Mr.. Fuller's
essay before the society, on pruning the grape
vine, and contended that Mr. Fuller could not
make good his assertion that vines in America,
healthy and productive for hundred years,
could be produced, pruned, so as not to exceed
three feet high, or occupy more than three feet
OF SOIL" The failure OF so many of our grape
vines he attributed to weakened vitality, brought
on by severe pruning.