inexpedient for large orchards. He thus describes the method of performing the operation:

"A trench should be dug around the tree, about eighteen inches from its stem, every autumn, just after the fruit is gathered, if the soil be sufficiently moist; if not, it will be better to wait until the autumnal rains have fallen. The roots should be carefully examined, and those which are inclined to perpendicular growth cut with the spade, which must be introduced quite under the tree on all sides, so that no root can possibly escape amputation, and all the horizontal roots, except those that are very small and fibrous, shortened with the knife to within a circle of eighteen inches from the stem, and all brought as near to the surface as possible, filling in the trench with compost for the roots to rest on. This should be well-rotted dung, and the mould from an old hotbed, in equal parts, which will answer exceedingly well. It may be found that after a few years of root-pruning, the circumferential mass of fibres will have become too much matted, and that some of the roots are bare of fibres towards the stem of the tree; in such cases, thin out some of the roots, shortening them at nine inches or one foot from the trunk. This will cause them to give out new fibres, so that the entire circle of three feet or more around the tree will be full of fibrous roots

1 This part of the work may be entirely avoided, if the bottom of the hole is floored with tile-brick or stones, when the tree is planted.

near the surface, waiting with open mouths for the nourishment annually given to them by surfacedressings and liquid manure."

If a branch be lost from accident or disease, and

it be necessary to produce another, the method adopted by M. Jamin may be useful.

(a) represents the position of a dormant bud, which will not burst naturally, because the force of the sap tends toward the highest portions of the tree. A cut is made through the bark, across the top and down the sides of the bud, which causes it to start and grow.

CHAPTER X.

SUMMER CULTIVATION.

REMOVAL OF MOSS AND DECAYED BARK — - LOOSENING THE SOIL MULCHING THINNING THE FRUIT — RINGING — WATERING, TYING, SupportING, AND GATHERING THE FRUIT-PRESERVATION.

THE labors demanded of the fruit-grower during the summer are varied, and will be considered in the order in which they will necessarily require his attention.

The removal of moss and decayed bark. The presence of moss or lichens is not itself injurious to trees, except as providing a shelter for insects; but it is generally an index to a bad state of health in the tree. They are among the agents which nature employs to restore vegetable substances to earth, after life has left them. They never attack any part of the tree which is still alive, but only those which are in a state of decay. A tree which is in full vigor, as it grows and its trunk increases in size, bursts its old covering, and it peels off. When it is persistent it shows that the health of the tree is bad, on account of the barrenness of the soil, or, more frequently, the want of drainage.

The evils resulting from such a state, are that the

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LOOSENING THE SOIL.

tree is stifled or hidebound, and that this old bark affords shelter for myriads of insects, which ravage the crops the next summer. To restore the tree, the remedy must be applied to the primary cause, in the form of manure to increase the fertility of the land, or by draining to regulate its moisture. The tree should then be scraped so that the moss and old bark shall be entirely removed; but the instrument used for this purpose must not be too sharp, else it will mutilate the tree by exposing unduly the liber, or live bark. It is very well to wash the trunk with a very weak dilution of potashwater, to destroy the larvae which may be present. A great many orchards are treated so severely in removing the old bark as really to wound the tree, and the operation is generally rendered fruitless by the scrapings being left upon the ground, in which case the larvae can crawl upon and attack the trees almost as well as if they had never been touched. The bark which is scraped off should always be gathered up and burned, when the destruction of the insects will be certain.

Loosening the soil. The constant pulverization of the surface-soil, particularly by the use of the hoe, greatly promotes its fertility. By this means it is kept porous, and in a condition to absorb fertilizing gases, as well as moisture, from the atmosphere. It will readily be seen that deep ploughing or spading is injurious. The little fibres which

SHALLOW CULTIVATION AFTER PLANTING.

347

produce and sustain fruitfulness are near the surface; they are almost invisible, and drink in the fertility of every shower, and that of the morning dew. The strong roots, which penetrate immediately to the subsoil, sustain the vigor of the tree, and it is the object of root-pruning, as has been seen, to prevent their formation, or to destroy them when in existence. Thus by this operation extreme vigor is checked, and maturity gained. The same results are often obtained by encouraging the roots to come to the surface. This does not follow deep cultivation, for by it the little root-fibres in the surfacesoil are destroyed, or prevented from forming. It can, therefore, be understood why orchards deeply cultivated refuse to bear fruit, and still exhibit a luxuriant growth; they are receiving a constant pruning, which is discouraging fruitfulness, and promoting vigor. A fork, with tines only two or three inches in length, or a horse-cultivator, used judiciously, will answer all the good ends, without the evil results which follow the use of a deeper instru

ment.

The frequency of this operation cannot be governed by any fixed rule; the state of the weather, the condition of the soil, and the presence of weeds must decide it. The land should not be stirred when wet. The object in moving the soil is to so increase its porosity, by the separation of each particle from its neighbor, that the air may penetrate