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plant a tree that will make such a top, but do not attempt 

 to, force trees to assume different forms from those which 

 nature gives them. Each tree treated in this way is a 

 standing lie, and proclaims to every passer-by the folly of its 

 owner. 



The true idea is to make each species assume as nearly as pos- 

 sible the typical form, of that species. To do this, some pruning 

 is sometimes necessary. If trees are not crowded if each 

 one has room enough for the air and sunlight to have free 

 access to it on all sides, it will round out and develop its 

 full proportions, and if it does not actually attain it, will 

 approximate its typical form. Where the lower limbs are 

 in the way, of course they must be sacrificed, but where 

 they are not, leave them and you will, have a finer and 

 more thrifty tree. If a limb, as is often the case with the 

 elm in our dry soil, extends beyond the rest, absorbing the 

 strength and destroying the symmetry of the tree, it should 

 be cut back while yet small. 



The Soft Maple often throws out limbs that have no 

 firm attachment to the body, and will sooner or later split 

 off; these should be removed while small. The idea of 

 cutting back the top of a soft maple, or any other tree, to 

 prevent it from becoming top-heavy, is fallacious; it relieves 

 for the time but makes it worse afterward. If a Soft 

 Maple, as some of them will do, breaks bodily, and con- 

 tinues to do so, it is better to remove it and plant another 

 in its place. Severe pruning lowers the vitality of any 

 ordinary tree, making it less able to bear the drouth and 

 heat of summer, and the cold of winter, and leaving it an 

 easy prey to borers and other noxious insects. 



As a strong man is able to resist disease, so a vigorous 

 tree is able to resist the attacks of its enemies, while a 

 feeble one succumbs. 



So far as possible all limbs should be removed while 

 small. It is rarely necessary to cut a large limb from a 

 tree that has been properly cared for. 



