164 Landscape Gardening 



time upon any young specimen just growing into adoles- 

 cence and throwing out its delicate branches like a fine 

 fall of drapery to conceal its naked trunk, and you shall see 

 how he will improve its appearance. Yes, he will trim up 

 those branches till there is a tall, naked stem, higher than 

 his head. That shows that the tree has been taken care 

 of - - has been trimmed - - ergo, trained and educated into a 

 look of respectability. This is his great point - - the funda- 

 mental law of sylvan beauty in his mind - - a bare pole with 

 a top of foliage at the end of it. If he cannot do this he 

 may content himself with thinning out the branches to let 

 in the light, or clipping them at the ends to send the head 

 upwards, or cutting out the leader to make it spread later- 

 ally. But though the trees formed by these latter modes 

 of pruning are well enough, they never reach that exalted 

 standard which has for its type a pole as bare as a ship's 

 mast with only a flying studding-sail of green boughs at 

 the end of it.* 



We suppose this very common pleasure - - for it must be 

 a pleasure - - which so many persons find in trimming up 

 ornamental trees is based on a feeling that trees growing 

 quite in the natural way must be capable of some amelio- 

 ration by art; and as pruning is usually acknowledged to 

 be useful in developing certain points in a fruit tree, a like 

 good purpose will be reached by the use of the knife upon 

 an ornamental tree. But the comparison does not hold 

 good, since the objects aimed at are essentially different. 

 Pruning - - at least all useful pruning - - as applied to fruit 

 trees, is applied for the purpose of adding to, diminishing, or 

 otherwise regulating the fruitfulness of the tree; and this 

 in many cases is effected at the acknowledged diminution 

 of the growth, luxuriance and beauty of the trees, so far as 

 spread of branches and prodigality of foliage go. But even 

 here the pruner who prunes only for the sake of using the 

 knife (like heartless young surgeons in hospitals) not un- 



' Some of our readers may not be aware that to cut off the side branches 

 on a young trunk, actually lessens the growth in diameter of that trunk at 

 once. - - A. J. D. 



