PRUNING
Rosebush before pruning
When I see a lot of ignorant labourers put onto the job of pruning trees, my blood fairly boils. Their work, unless overseen by an expert, is pure butchery. Many a noble tree has been so mangled by saw and axe that it has become an easy prey to all sorts of diseases.
Rosebush after pruning
Pruning is work that requires intelligence. In orchard and door yard any one with the strength to wield a saw or shears can do the annual pruning. A woman can do it as I can testify, except occasionally where large limbs are to be handled. Such occasions seldom arise on a well-cared-for place. It is impossible to treat the whole subject of pruning in one short chapter, but there is nothing difficult to understand about the principles or practice. In ten minutes an expert grape pruner could show a pupil how to prune a grape-vine so as to produce the best and largest crop. Each kind of shrub whether for fruit or flowers requires its special treatment. It takes experience to acquire judgment but the principles are easy to learn and to practise. You should go to a book on pruning to learn just how to prune the various kinds of shrubs, vines, and trees.
The right way. The wound is healing
