and the motion so quick as to produce a clean, smooth section, with the bark uninjured.
2317. E v e ry d ra w -c u t produces a smooth section, and a fractured or bruised section ;
and one essential pait of cutting liring vegetables, is to take care that the fractured section
be on the part amputated. Another desirable object is, that the section of the living
or reraaiiiing part should be so inclined (a , fig . 681.) as not to lodge water or ovei*flowing
sap ; and be so far turned to the ground (d ) or to the north, as not to be struck by the
direct rays of the sun. To accomplish both these purposes, as well as to make sure of
having the fractured section on the part amputated, the general practice is to cut from
below or from the under edge of the branch or shoot, unless the position of the leading
bud occasions a deviation from the rule (6). The cut should also be made in all shoots
not more than three or four years old, witliin one foiu’th to half an inch, or a little
more, of the bud intended to take the lead ; when this is not done, and half au inch or
more of shoot is left without a bud (c and c), the consequence is, the stump dies back to the
bud in the course of the season (g ), and if not cut carefully off ( / ) , will end in a decaying
orifice both unsightly and injurious. The bud selected for a leader ought always to be
a leaf-bud, and in general the plane of the section ought to be parallel to the angle which
the bud makes with the stem (d ). Exceptions occur in the case of plants with much
pith (/¿), as the rine, elder, &c., in cutting the year-old shoots of which, an inch or more
ought to be left, as these always die back a few lines ; and thus the leading bud might
be injured, if this precaution were not taken. In like manner, when pruning a largo
tree, the section of amputation ought to be made so oblique as to throw off the rain ; as
generally as possible, it should be turned from the sun, and rather downwards than
upwards, in order to shield it from heat and cracking ; and whenever it can be done, it
should be made near a branch, shoot, or bud, whieh may take the lead in the room of
that cut off, and thus, by keeping the principle of life in action at the section, speedily
heal up the wound.
2318. * In p ru n in g roots, the same principle, as far as applicable, ought to be attended
to ; the trunk or stem when cut over ought to be sloped to the north (i), and the lateral
roots cut so that the section may be on the under side (k ), and therefore be less likely to rot
than when the cut faces the surface of the ground ( I) or is bnfised by neglecting to
form the smooth section on the attached extremity. When roots are large always cut to
a lateral, and when they are small to a fibre ; for in roots as in shoots, naked extremities
always die back to the nearest leader. Wlien a root broken or bruised has neither
laterals nor fibres, then merely cut back to sound wood, leaving a smooth section ; for
the sap, which always operates first and most powerfully at the extremities both of roots
and shoots, will there originate fibres.
2319. I n cutting w ith the chisel, the blade is applied below the branch to be amputated
so as to rest on the trunk or main branch ; and so applied, a quick blow with a mallet
is applied to the handle of the chisel by the operator or his assistant. If this does not
effect a separation, it is to be repeated. In forest-pruning it is often advantageous to
apply one cut of the chisel on the underside of the branch, and then to saw it tlu-ough with
the forest-saw from the upper.
2320. C lip p ing is an imperfect mode of cuttmg, adapted for expedition and for small
shoots. The separation is effected by bruising or crushing along with cutting, and, in
consequence, botii sections are fractured. In gardening it is chiefly applied for keeping
hedges and edgings in shape ; but the hedge-knife (fig . 376.), which operates by clean,
rapid draw-cuts, given always from below, is generally preferable, as not decreasing the
live ends of the amputated shoots. The new praning-shears (fig . 381.), and the
averruncator ( fig . 380.), it is to be observed, by producing cuts much more like the
draw-cuts of knives, are greatly to be prefcned to the common hedge-shears.
2321. I n respect to the seasons f o r sawing, cutting, o r clip p ing liv in g trees, the best seem
early in spring, and in midsummer. Early in autumn, trees are apt to bleed ; later, and
in winter the section is liable to injmy from the weather; hut trees pruned early in
snrine roliain only a short period before the wound begins to heal; and in those pmned
K d s— ■theVonnds healiinmediately. There are,however,
pruning in evergreens, chemes, and other gummiferons trees ; and summei pruning
ill nrinDtpd for forest-work or trees in crowded scenery.
2322 S p littin g , as an operation of gai-dening, is generally performed
remaining m the soil, for the purpose of facilitating their eradication. The wedge m
its simplest form, and of iron, is driven in by a hammer or mallet, till it produces fracture
oml sehiirntion when the parts are removed as detached, &c.
2323 M o w in q is performed by tho rapid motion of a very sharp wedge a,cross the
matters' to be t o or mown, and at an obli?e angle to them. In gardening it is applied
to grassy sm-faces, in order, hy repeated amputations, to keep the plants short spreading,
and thick and by always admitting light and air to the roots or stools, to render the sut-
fiee Breen This operation reqnh-ing great force, and also a twisting motion of the body,
? ? T ? o s t eTrmusole into action, and is, in fact, one of the most severe m veget-
" T T T ia iO T fro m a boat is in nse for cuttmg weeds in rivers and ponds. The
oneratoi- stands m the boat, and is rowed forward hy another, as reqmed. Sometimes
^ivthp blades are tied or riveted togetlier, and worked by means of ropes like a saw
from one shore to the other ; but the first mode is generaUy reckoned the best, even in
nlofL'are forSn to those cultivated there. Iu this sense every plant may become a
? T d T d y ; but absolute or universal weeds are such as are cultivated in no departrain.
C h a p . II.
O p e ra tiom o f G ard ening in w hich S h iU is nwre required th an Strength.
2326 O vera tio ns o f s k ill req uire the end to be ¡mown a n d kept in view by the o p m to r
d l i m the Z Z a t iZ . The labours which we have enumerated m the foregoing diaptw,
Z v t e ? T d l be pei-foi-med by the labourer without reference to any plan or design ;
S t e r T i e h oo7 nS? to be enumerated, requhe a greater or less degree of re-
f e e T to t e ultimate object. Of this, even the simple operations of digging a dram
i r e l ? off Z te i t e ? ? in a row, or forming a bed of earth, may he mentioned as
fxZ d e s PrevteZy to |-oceeding to these operations, it becomes necessaiy to consider
Z T u bS t of tersferring designs feiii ground to paper or to memory, and from paper
m Z S ? to?-ound ; ? shdl then he prepared to treat of executing designs.
S e c t . I. O f tra n s fe rrin g Designs fr o m G ro un d to P a p e r o r to M em ory.
9397 T lw a r t o f ta kin g p lans o r designs o f objects is to be considered as part of a
BaXm-’f g e ? ? ! e t e a t a , since none whl aspire to any degree of OOTuenee m teir
Irofessten ofight to be ignorant of t e first principles of geometry, land-surveying and
d rw i? Wo ShaU mirely, therefore, touch on a few points to assist a gardenei m
bviuD-in?-’ the knowledge he has so acquired into action. A gardener may requiie to take
lie« or nencil or hoth The instruments necessaiy for taking measurements and angles,
traii’sfer plans from t e ground to paper, m-e the measuring-line or diain the
?Z iin g -? d , and oeeasionally the theodolite ; hut for all ordmaiy purposes the chain
’ r h T Z ^ X i fo rm o fs u rfa c e -p la n to transfer from gronnd to paper is a circle ;
ease.
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