The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1872-01-30

stuhthS u fNit tfttSs
To the Editor Of the Vermont Farmer
The rules upon which success in horti.
culture depends in the latitude of New
York or even of Boston, are not always
safe guides to practice here in Northern
Vermont, under our hurried summer and
long, bitterly cold winters. Experience
suggests important notifications of many
oil the maxims of the authorities
So with respect to the conclusion OF
that correspondent Of the Ne,c England
Farmer, quoted in your issue Of Dec. 9th,
that the best time to prune is immediate.
~ after the fall of the leaf. Generally
speaking autumn is the best time for
pruning, and if another recommendation
Of that writer we're needed, If all wounds
were covered Though a coat of paint or
shellac would hardly sufhce,) no very
serious consequences might follow in or
binary winters even in this region,
But my experience persuades me that
fall pruning is not a safe rule for the
orchardist of this latitude to adopt.
There is a mysterious lfe-principle that
is active even in the alternating tree.
Communication between the branches
and the roots must not long be interrupt
ed. The loss ofthe sap which the branche s
suffer frem the dry winds of winter, must
often be repaired. The trial to which a
tree is put, where there occurs as is often
the case in this climate, term Of intense
cold uninterrupted during several weeks,
is severe one. This is true when the
epidermis Of the bark is unbroken and
seals up the whole tree, preventing any
rapid escape of moisture, but if the bark
has been marred by accident or by the
removal Of numerous branches the waste
OF vital sap through these openings is SO
great as often to imperil the life of all
the wood above the wound, and, some
times, ii the cuts are numerous, that of
the whole tree. A thick coat of grating
wax applied after the surface of the cut
has become a little dried, so as to insure
its firm adhesion, will practically prevent
this result but the danger lies in the
probability that the large wounds will
not be sealed up in a perfect manner, and
that many Of the smaller ones will entire
y escape notice. Even if the tree be so
large, or the number Of wounds made SO
few, that no perceptible injury is done by
late pruning yet the wounds, unless pro-
tected In the manner Just recommended,
will not heal over so readily as they would
If made at time | shall presently indi.
cate. They will harden, it is true, so as
to prevent any escape of sap the follow
ing spring, but the bark and the wood
beneath it, for some distance around the
exposed surface, is liable to dry up, also,
and enlarge the area to be covered with
new wood.
Now, all the advantages Of fall prun-
ing may be secured, if We delay pruning
until the severe cold of winter is past,
and in doing so we must not incur any
risk from the bleeding of the wounds
made. For several years l have appro.
priated the last half of March to pruning
my young orchards and nursery, and ouly
the best results have followed the plan
The days are frightening and the weather
is mild, and active operations on the farm
having hardly commenced, l find more
time for this work at this season than in
the hurry of harvesting crops and getting
ready for winter in the fall Wounds
must at this time dry over sufficiently
before the rise OF the spring sap to pre-.
vent bleeding, and being waxed on some
spare day in early summer, they are, by
the end Of the season, in good part cover
ed over with new growth. But the work
must be accomplished by the end of the
first week in April lfa limb be cut
away after the buds begin to SWELL the
sap for long time oozes out Of the wound
despite all waxing, and becoming sour
renders the wood with which it comes in
contact diseased, so that it will heal over
but slowly, and also blackens tho bark
when it flows down.
1t Is my practice to cover all cuts that
are half inch or more in diameter, and
| am convinced that little labor expend-
ed in this way is many times repaired by
the entire absence of dead and decaying
spots in the wood of the trees thus treat.
ed Wounds of less than that size close
we'll over before fall without any atten-
ton. For a protection against the
weather for live wood nothing is so good
as common grafting-wax. 1t is perfectly
impervious to water; is elastic and per.
manent. 1t fills the surface pores Of the
wood, SO that the latter does not even
change color, and it offers no resistance
to the approach Of the tender, young
wood, Last spring, having seen common
paint recommended in one of our horti.
cultural journals, | made trial of that,
but much to my regret, it proved less
efficient as protection ; but worse, it ap-
peared to act like poison on the grow
ing ring about the wound. Shellac is
harmless, and does well at first, but may
after time creak in the weather.
The pruning which l have in view, as
| write this, relates to the care of young
trees the removal Of superf1uous shoots,
which little summer pinching would
have suppressed, and the thinning out Of
supernumerary branches. (too apt to be
left on young trees,) in order to form
open symmetrical heads. But it ia
SO metimes necessary to remove limb Of
a. large tree. In that case nothing will
p eserve the wood during the years re-
quired to cover it, and prevent the dead
or rotten wood which would otherwise
certainly ensue, better than grafting-wax
applied hot. G. G. PRrNeLE.
Charlotte, w.