ROOT PRUNING 



45 



planted in soil that is of an unduly and injuriously rich 

 composition, thus causing a too free growth ; or the 

 roots may descend into a sour and unwholesome subsoil. 

 Each of these conditions is conducive to unfruitful- 

 ness, and necessitates the practice of root pruning. The 

 primary object, as indeed the need, of root pruning, is to 

 encourage fruitfulness, and it .is usually made necessary 

 by one of the three conditions above mentioned. 

 Young and newly planted trees, if they are treated 

 well, are often liable to make an exceptionally vigorous 

 growth, and this and fruitfulness rarely go together. 

 Some varieties are more prone to this fault than others, 

 and are naturally so strong growing as to require 

 being kept within bounds in even ordinary soil. When 

 roots find their way into the subsoil, especially if this 

 is at all waterlogged, the tree is almost certain to be 

 unsatisfactory ; gross, unfruitful shoots will develop, 

 and canker may probably also arise from the same cause. 

 We see then the object of root pruning, and the 

 next thing is to learn how it should be done. It is 

 important to remember that moderation is equally 

 necessary in root pruning as in branch pruning. If 

 either is carried to excess, or is injudiciously practised, 

 much more harm than good will result. I re- 

 member a number of splendid apple trees, of the 

 variety Lord Grosvenor, that were growing somewhat 

 vigorously, and orders were given for them to be 

 root pruned. They were then bearing fairly well, 

 but not well enough to give full satisfaction. The 

 work was overdone, with the result that the trees 

 were crippled for several years, and they are now 

 but just regaining their normal strength and bearing. 

 Such an example reminds one how much harm may 

 be done by injudicious root pruning. If carefully and 

 wisely performed, however, it is a valuable means of 

 inducing trees that have not been doing so to bear 



