Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1879 — Spring Pruning. [ARTICLE]

Spring Pruning.

There is always more or less pruning to be done in the spring, even when the bulk of this work has been performed in the fall and winter. It is never safe to prune raspberries and blackberries in the fall or during cold weather pi winter, and there will generally be seme dead canes to cut out or, to shorten taster the cold weather is past. Most of this kind of pruning is therefore done in spring, just before the buds begin to swell or the leaves push out. With all the tall-growing" sorts it is a good plan to shorten the '«eneff considerably, and if there are long side branches, these should also be shortened to at least one-half or onethird, because better and larger fruit will be produced on the pruned stock than if all was left of the full length. Where the stools are orowded, a part of the oanes should be cut out at the ground, in order to allow those remaining more room to grow and develop their leaves and fruit. There is no fain in leaving a large amount of Baring wood on such plants, for while a greater number of berries may be obtained, their size will be proportionately decreased. Currants and gooseberries may also be pruned at this season—the long, slender young shoots shortened and the old and feeble canes cut out. Thinning out old clumps, and letting the light and air into the., center, will add much to the size of the fruit and health of the plants. Where the buds have begun to swell and the sap to flow, the pruning of apple, pear and similar fruit trees had better be deferred until the leaves are fully expanded. Hot that the slight loss of sap which may issue from the wounds made in pruning will do the trees any harm, but as it runs down the bark it turns black and injures the appearance of the tree. This is especially the case with young nursery trees, and the marks made bv the escaping and corroding sap will frequently remain visible for several years. A few frosty nights or cold winds after pruning will usually dry up the exposed wood and prevent any sap escaping, so that pruning may be Continued as long as the weather remains cold enough to keep the buds perfectly dormant. The same mhy be said of grapevines, which “ bleed,” as it is termed, more freely than any other of our woody plants. The sap which runs so freely is little more than pure water, and the vine itself loses but little solid matter ; still, the sap as it flows down the canes turns the bark black and disfigures the plant. Ornamental trees should either be pruned several weeks before the buds swell, or the operation be deferred until growth has commenced and all danger of bleeding is past. When large branches are removed at any time of the year, it is a good plan to cover the exposed wood with grafting wax applied hot, as this will prevent decay until the wound is overgrown with new wood. Hedges, whether evergreen or deciduous, should be pruned before growth commences, although it may be done later in the season, with a loss in the vigor of the plants. In all localities where snow falls to any considerable depth, hedges should always be of a conical form, or quite pointed at the top, or else with every heavy fall of snow they are liable to be crushed or the plants spread apart and broken. Evergufeen hedges especially are liable to be Injured by snow resting on them, and we have often been surprised to see gardeners, who ought to know better, pruning aborvitm and hemlock hedges so as to leave a broad flat top, upon which the snow is heaped up in winter until the plants are crushed by its weight. A good hedge of any kind should be as broad at its base as it is high, at least for the first ten years of its growth, and even after this frequent cutting back of the leading branches and shortening of the upper side shoots will be of great assistance in keeping the bottom full and well furnished. A well-grown and carefully pruned hedge may be ornamental, as well as useful, but a majority of those generally seen are neither, and only serve as hiding places for weeds and vermin. Specimens of evergreens, or groups of them, mas now be put into almost any desired form, by cutting back the leading shoots and shortening the side branches. With the slender twigged kinds, like the hemlock and arborvitae, tfio ordinary hedge shears may. be tfsed; but with the pines and similar kinds , the pruning knife or single-hand pruning shears are the best implements, as the removal of branches needs to be done with more care, because buds upon them from which new shoots will start are far less, numerous than in the first-named kinds. Pruning trees and shrubs is beneficial or injurious in to tho skill or want of it in the one who performs the operation. If a man knows nothing of the habits of the plants he is operating upon, and meiely prunes because he thinks it is needed, he will probably do them more harm than gooa.t— N. Y. Sun. ' ... . : The largest bridge in Europe will be completed next| year. It will cross the Volga in the Government of Samara, Russia, on the Siberian Railroad line. The Volga, at the point of the bridge, is about four miles wide in the spring season, and in autumn is 4,782 feet The bridge will be supported by 12 piers 85 feet high, with ice-cutters 35 feet high at a distance of every 364 feet The ice-cutters are covered with granite. The iron-work is from Belgium. "'A temporary colonjr is estabFished for workingmen employed on the bridge; it occupies about 55 acres, and has 60 different buildings, insured at 100,000 roubles. Two thousand men are employed, and among them are 100 Italian masons. Three steamers and seventy barks are used constantly for forwarding wood, stone, iron and other materials. The bridge will cost 4,630,000 roubles, or about $3,500,000. A OhicAgo undertaker advertises the most “ comfortable front wagon” in the oountry. A touching compliment to the feelings of tjhe corpse. Indigestion, The main cause of nervousness Is indigestion, And that Is caused by weakness of the stomach. NO one can have sound nerves and good health without using Hop Bitters to strengthen the stomach, purify the blood and to keep the liver and kidneys active, to carry off all the poisonous and waste matter of the .system, fee other column. _ J_

Mk. WiQGUtewoRTH was somewhat embarrassed when introduced by a French friend as Mr. Vigglesvorm. — Boston Commercial Bulletin.