THE FORMAL HEAD 



195 



ragged, it is unkempt, and is neither formal nor 

 free. The suggestion is, that trees and shrubs 

 which are trimmed into formal shape should be 

 sheared several times dur- 

 ing the growing season, 

 not in winter alone. Fig. 

 119 illustrates the point. 

 The bush was sheared in 

 winter. The operator 

 wanted a flat -topped and 

 thick -topped specimen ; 

 but he had such a speci- 

 men only in winter, for 

 the bush began to cover 

 its shame with the first 

 opportunity of spring, 

 by making long and free 

 growths. 



In this case (Fig. 119), 

 therefore, the strong new 

 growth is a blemish, because the operator did not 

 want it (although it should be said that he took 

 the very best means to secure it by pruning 

 heavily in winter). In a fruit-tree, however, a 

 similar growth might not be a blemish, because 

 the object of heading -back in this case is not to 

 produce a definite form of tree, but to keep the 

 plant within bounds, and to modify the fruit- 

 bearing habit. Fig. 120 shows headed -in plum 

 trees as they look when first leaved out. Fig. 121 



119. The winter-sheared 

 bush. 



