CHAPTER VIII. 



PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING. 



A GREAT deal has been said and written on this subject, and much 

 bad practice still prevails. Orchards are seen all through the coun- 

 try which have either been never pruned, or, if the work has been 

 performed, it has done more harm than good. Trees with trunks 

 trimmed up to three times the proper height, mutilated by the need- 

 less lopping of large branches, one-sided and totally destitute of sym- 

 metry, or filled with a mass of brush, may be seen through the 

 country. A perfect orchard is a rarity. The same remark will 

 apply to nurseries. The trees have been grown and trained with 

 very little attention to a perfect shape, the chief obje<5t of the owner 

 being to raise large trees in as little time as possible. The pur- 

 chasers of such trees, after setting them out, either give little atten- 

 tion, or, if they cultivate them well, allow them to form their own 

 heads. They may be too tall or one-sided, or distorted and irregu- 

 lar, no attention being given to shaping the heads when they are 

 young. 



Pruning Young Trees at Transplanting. When young trees are 

 dug from the ground, the roots from necessity are more or less 

 bruised or mutilated. All these bruised or torn surfaces should be 

 pared off smoothly with a sharp knife. If left untouched they 

 induce decay, and are unfavorable to the best healthy growth of the 

 tree in the same way that a broken or bruised limb above ground 

 would furnish a dead stub or make a bad scar, while pruning it 

 smooth will cause it to heal over readily. 



Pruning the Tops. Thrifty young trees usually have roots 

 extending as far each way from the foot of the stem as the height of 

 the tree. A careful examination will discover the whole surface of 

 the subsoil occupied with the small fibres of full-grown nursery- 

 trees (Fig. 95). It is obviously impossible, therefore, in digging up 

 to avoid cutting and leaving most of the roots behind ; and the tree 

 when reset is unable to sustain or feed for a time its leaves and 



