The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-02-24


PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING.
A great deal has been said and written
on this subject, and much bad practice
still prevails. Orchards are seen all
through the country which have either
never been pruned or, if the work has
been performed, it has done more harm
than good. Trees with trunks trimmed
up to three times the proper hight, mutt
lated by the needless looping of large
branches, one-sided and totally destitute
of symmetry, or filled with a mass OF
brush, may be seen through the country
A perfect orchard is rarity. The same
remark will apply to nurseries. The
trees have been grown and trained with
very little attention to a perfect shape,
the chief object of the owner being to
raise large trees in as little time as posi-
BILE. The purchasers of such trees, after
setting them out, either give little atten-
ton, or, if they cultivate them well, allow
them to form their own heads. They NAV
be too tall or one-sided, or distorted and
irregular, no attention being given TO
shaping the heads when they are young.
When young trees are dug from the
ground, the roots from necessity are
more or less bruised or mutilated. All
these bruised or torn surfaces should be
pared off smoothly with sharp knife
says one of our authorities. If left un-
touched they induce decay, and are I'M
favorable to the best healthy growth Of
the tree-in the same way that broken
or bruised limb above ground would fur
nish dead stub or make a bad scar,
while pruning it smooth will cause it to
heal over readily.
Thrifty young trees usually have roots
extending as far each way from the foot
of the stem as the hight of the tree. a
careful examination will discover the
whole surface of the subsoil occupied
with the small fibers of full-grown nurs-
cry trees. 1t is obviously impossible,
therefore, in digging up to avoid cutting
and leaving most of the roots behind !;
and the tree, when reset is unable to sus-
tain or feed for a time its leaves and
branches. A part must therefore be cut
off to restore the balance, corresponding
in some degree with the loss of the roots
This may be done by thinning out all the
feeble shoots, so as 10 leave an even, we'll
shaped head, and then cutting back a
part of each remaining one-year shoot
Judgment must be exercised as to the
amount to be cut away from the tops
The growth of new roots depends on
the assistance afforded by the leaves at
the top; if the leaves are too few. the
roots will not extend freely; if they are
too many, the roots cannot furnish
proper supply for them, and they will be
feeble and sickly. Planters will learn a
great deal on this point by cutting away
more or less on different trees and OBJ
serving the result. Different kinds of
trees require varying management in
this respect. The peach, for example,
readily reproduceS new shoots, and it
may, consequently, be cut back very
freely: two-thirdS to nine-tenths of each
previous seasons shoot may be removed
without detriment. The grape, also, may
be very heavily pruned, as it throws out
new vines with great vigor. The cherry,
on the contrary, is very sensitive, and
young trees have been nearly killed by a
severe summer pruning. The young
cherry shoots should never be cut back
in spring more than half their length
The pear and apple are intermediate, and
the heads should be moderately and
not severely pruned.-The Western Ru-
raj and Stockman.
EQUALIZING FOOD FOR FOWLS.
When a variety of food is given the
quantity should not be increased to a
greater amount than when grain is given.
Those who feed grain make the mistake
of not diminishing the grain in proper
ton to the clover or meat added. For a
LAYING hen that is producing eggs regu-
larly the estimate of food that is allowed
ner day is four ounces, but it does not re-
quire any explanation from us to con-
vince those who keep poultry that four
ounces of grain is a very different thing
from four ounces of cabbage or potatoes,
as the one is a concentrated food, while
the others consist largely OF water. gill
OF corn is about three ounces, and by
using the gill as mode of measurement
the feeding may be easily regulated. No
quantity of grain, whether OF wheat Or
corn, given TO a fowl should exceed one
gill day, and this also depends upon the
breed to a great extent, and even upon