Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-05-12
PRUNING IN JUNE OR July

Gnu htlCh' vi sprlHS Vi tHe year, any way
! Pomologists largely advocate
PRUNING IN JUNE OR July.
with the moon left out. The argument is,
that the wounds heal more readily when
the sap is in full circulation. And now |
am advocating pruning at all times. even
by Moonlight, and advising You to bid her
defiance. Presently, as science progresses,
and practical information is acquired,
some one will be advocating some other
system--perhaps it will be non-pruninr
Then we shall have orchards that we had
rather look at from distance than to pick
fruit from. And so we 90 on changing on
progressing in horticulture, farming, poll
tics and religion, if you please.
Who now is so credulouS rs to believe
certain points in theology that were advo
Gated fifty years ago? Those points now
would have to b. cooked and seasoned by
the most scientific and profound theolooi.
ans to induce any one to swallow then.
without wncing. do not intend to DRAG
religion into this discussion to disparage il
by no means-only to prove u point, to
show how we change in our views. God
does not change. That, that WAS the thing
to DO yesterday. is obsolete to-day.
There is one thing connected with pun
ing that pomologists never allude TO- us
remember. Perhaps they think it is not
part of pruning, or that we know bv
intuition what to do under the circum
stanccs-that is, the disposal of the
" brush" Well, some of us do know that
1t Is nice to throw on top of an old squat
fence, and to jam into holes where rails
have rotted out, to stop sheep. Sheep will
shun dead brush. And in after wears,
when raspberry bushes, wild cherry, alders
and thistles get well up in the brush, then
" distance lends enchantment to the view"
You have also subject fit for poet.
They used to long ago, when hogs were
iree-commoners, use the apple crotches
for hog Jokes. This was another way to
dispose of part Of the brush that pomolo-
gists never alluded to; perhaps they did
not know that they could be put to that
use. My father understood it, however,
and used to keep large supply on hand.
lie got an over-supply once and it happen.
ed thus: He used,wh hiring man, for
the sake of the joke to ask him, "if he
knew what time to cut hog yokes9" The
man would hesitate, stammer over it, and
finally acknowledge "hc did not know"
"Well,' he would say, "whenever thee
finds one is the time" lie was roino
from home once to be gone one or two
days and left the man Ga simple fellow
whom he had tested in this Way to trim
apple brush. On his return he found II
good share Of it in the loft of the wood
shed; the man had carried out the ieke to
the letter. Father said to him, " Dwight
L guess thee has cut about hog vokes
enough, unless thee wants to carry some
home to stow for thy own usen
Now the idea that | have attempted to
convey in pruning Il have not succeeded
very welD is this-that nontwo varieties
of apples require the same treatment any
more than our children. We are very apt,
and we do lay down rules and preceDts to
regulate our families only to see them
dlsregarded and violated, and we become
Iowerl'ss to enforce the rules. Whv?
Because the material is so varied to which
we apply the rules. Families vary in
disposition AS much us the community of
which they constitute part. FlogGinn
one boy in family might do him GOOD,
create wholesome fear in him Of the
result of violation of the rules; at an
other time his brother might, by receiving
the same treatment, he broken in spirit
for life and ruined. His pride could not
brook the treatment. Another one receiy-
ing the same treatment would have the
tiger aroused in him TO that degree that
he would swear vengeance on the cold
man, [ will burn his barn and run
away" and may be he would. You will
readily grant the inconsistency of giving
those three boys the same treatment.
The first one wants pruning outside; the
second one inside, or appealed to morally,
and the third will become better man if
you let him alone.
The above
PHILosoPuIzfNG DISSERTATION UPON BOYS
will apply equally well to orchard prun-
ing. Some varieties, if thoroughly and
judiciously pruned when young, will not
require much pruning in after years, ex-
cept of those dropping limbs that recon-
mended cutting off by moonlight outside.