72 PRUNING. 
shoots; and to keeping both the sides of the tree well balanced, in 
order that the circulation of the sap may be equal throughout. ‘his 
wil] preserve the general health of the tree, at the same time that it 
throws the sap into the proper channels; and the fruit will be pro- 
duced in as much abundance as can be done without injuring the 
tree. It should never be forgotten, that to effect permanent improve- 
ments, nature should be aided, not overstrained; and that all ex- 
traordinary exertions are succeeded by a period of feebleness and 
languor, or, if the exertion be continued too long, by death. Thus, 
all cases of pruning and training to produce fruit should never be 
pushed too far; as though, by occasioning an extraordinary deposit 
of the returning sap in some particular part, that part may be forced 
into fruit, the unnatural deposit cannot fail in the end to engender 
disease. z < 
Sometimes a tree, from being supplied with more eithen it can 
digest, or from some other cause, has a tendency to produce what 
the English gardeners call water-shoots, and which the French call 
gourmands. These are strong, vigorous-growing branches, which 
are sent up from the main trunk of the tree, but which do not pro- 
duce either flowers or fruit; and which, consequently, if the tree be 
full of wood, should be removed as soon as their true character is 
discovered. If, however, the tree have too little wood in the centre, 
or if it appear exhausted by too much bearing, these branches should 
be spared, as they will serve admirably both to fill up any blanks 
that may have been left in the training, and to strengthen the trunk 
and roots by the quantity of rich returning sap, which they wil! 
send down from their numerous leaves. A certain quantity of leaves 
and barren branches are essential to the health of every tree; and 
the fruit grower who consults his own interest, should cherish them, 
instead of grudging the sap required for their support. Whenever 
there is not a sufficient quantity of Jeaves to elaborate the sap, the 
fruit that ought to have been nourished by its rich juices, becomes 
flaccid and insipid; its skin grows tough instead of crisp; and if 
the deprivation of leaves has been carried to excess, the fruit never 
ripens, but withers prematurely, and falls off. Pruning, at the 
best, is a violent remedy; and, like all other violent remedies, if 
carried further than is absolutely necessary, it generally ends by 
destroying. 
Training is intimately connected with pruning, and like it should 
