80 PRUNING IN GENERAL. 



cut away or the lower buds stripped off, will 

 invariably do so, unless artificial means are taken 

 to prevent it. This leaning away from the sun is 

 a very serious matter in making the orchard, and 

 such trees are the first to "sun scald" on the 

 sunny side. Being inclined they offer their trunks 

 at almost a right angle to the sun's rays, and it 

 has, of course, a greater power than if they struck 

 the tree at an acute angle. This mischief again 

 intensifies itself, as the condition here is unfavor- 

 able to the best growth, the growth being driven 

 to the other sides of the trunk, this side becomes 

 partially flattened, and thus offers a still better 

 target to the fiery archer. If we cut one of these 

 high-trimmed trees across, midway between the 

 ground and first branches, we shall see exactly 

 what has been described above. The bark will 

 be thicker on the south, showing that nature has 

 made an effort to shield this spot, and also that the 

 heart of the trees is not in the center, but much 

 nearer the south side, or, which is the same, that 

 the growth has been much larger on the side 

 furthest from the sun. The same Great Power 

 that made the sun made the tree too, and the tree 

 is entirely dependent upon the sun for its existence. 

 It seems entirely unreasonable to suppose that the 

 friendly sun becomes the great enemy of the tree, 

 and that it is necessary, or natural, that it should be 

 the cause of the destruction of them by the thou- 

 sands. There is no such inharmony in the great 

 labyrinths of nature. The trouble is: God made 



