In resuscitating old
neglected apple-trees, _rigorous_ pruning may be combined with plowing
and manuring of the ground. For covering wounds made in pruning, nothing
is better than common grafting wax laid on warm with a brush.' Hon P. T.
Quinn, in his work on 'Pear Culture,' writes: 'On our own place we begin
to prune our pear-trees from the 1st to the 15th of March, and go on with
the work through April. It is not best to do much cutting, except on very
young trees, while the foliage is coming out.'"
"Well," remarked Leonard, "I can go to work to-morrow with entire
content; and very pleasant work it is, too, especially on the young
trees, where by a little forethought and a few cuts one can regulate the
form and appearance of the future tree."
"How is that possible?" Amy asked.
"Well, you see there are plenty of buds on all the young branches, and we
can cut a branch just above the bud we wish to grow which will continue
to grow in the direction in which it points. Thus we can shape each
summer's growth in any direction we choose."
"How can you be sure to find a bud just where you want it?"
"I know we always do."
"Of course we do," said Webb, "for buds are arranged spirally on trees
in mathematical order. On most trees it is termed-the 'five-ranked
arrangement,' and every bud is just two-fifths of the circumference of the
stem from the next. This will bring every sixth bud or leaf over the first,
or the one we start with.
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