no TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Trees of Great Britain and Ireland. But in those three years 

 many new species have been brought into cultivation, while some 

 others that were already in our nurseries in 19 14 have revealed 

 their quality in flower or fruit, and shown their adaptability, or 

 otherwise, for a British environment. We entertain a confident 

 hope that Mr Bean will meet the occasion by issuing a third 

 or supplementary volume. 



Let it be understood, then, that this is a book for the 

 horticulturist and landscape gardener, not for the economic 

 forester. The plan thereof is admirably simple. In the first 

 hundred pages, the author supplies instruction, drawn from 

 his own rich experience, in nursery work and methods, in 

 propagation, planting and pruning, and a general survey of 

 the arrangement and management of a collection of trees and 

 shrubs. A fair example may be taken from his precepts on 

 pruning. 



"Of all the arts that go to make up horticulture, pruning 

 is the one most frequently misapplied. Its proper practice 

 necessitates an intimate acquaintance with the habit and 

 nature of the subject operated on. For instance, a collection 

 of flowering shrubs, /;/ so far as they need pruni7ig at all [the 

 italics are ours], cannot be pruned properly unless the workman 

 knows the time of flowering of each one. Again, the aim in 

 pruning a large growing tree is to make it as perfect a specimen 

 of its kind as possible ; contrary to the ideas of many, it is not 

 intended to bring it to some arbitrary, more or less formal, out- 

 line. Therefore a knowledge of size and habit is essential. 

 Unless the operator possesses such knowledge, the plants are 

 best left alone, for bad pruning and pruning without a definite 

 aim are worse than none." 



Regarding flowering shrubs, Mr Bean lays stress upon the 

 mischief wrought by the too common neglect of treating a.like 

 those that flower on the previous season's growth, such as 

 cherries, barberries, wild roses, and practically all early flowering 

 deciduous shrubs, and the far smaller number that flower on the 

 current season's growth, such as ceanothus, hydrangea, the 

 summer-flowering spirseas, etc. " Briefly stated," he adds, " the 

 rule which indicates the time to prune all flowering trees and 

 shrubs is this : Prune at such a season as will allo2V of the fullest 

 possible period of growth before the next fioivering season comes 

 round." It is safe to say that even the most experienced 



