142 THE APPLE CULTURIST. 



shot" through the tree-tops with a cannon. In some in- 

 stances, where the soil is so rich as to induce the branches to 

 continue to grow late in the summer, and even during the 

 months of autumn, if the growth is not checked by pinching 

 the spray in time to allow the cambium of the tender twigs 

 to solidify, the new growth will die during cold weath- 

 er. Root-pruning will check that rampant growth ; and if 

 the pruning should be severe, the flow of sap will be cut 

 off to such an extent that the young twigs can not be ma- 

 tured. If the flow of sap be cut off, the rampant growth 

 will be checked, frequently, to the serious injury of the 

 tree. Young shoots must be supplied with sap while the 

 cambium is solidifying. Hence, the true way to manage a 

 tree or bush, when it continues to grow rampantly, late in 

 the season, is to pinch the terminal buds instead of severing 

 the roots. This operation will stop the lateral and upward 

 extension of the branches, and the sap and cambium will at 

 once begin to develop the buds, thus inducing fruitfulness, 

 and promoting the maturity of the green wood and tender 

 branches, so that before cold weather every twig and shoot 

 will be fully ripened, and prepared to endure the rigors of 

 winter without injury. By pinching the terminal twigs 

 late in summer on some trees, and late in September on 

 others, the pruner will have complete control of the growth 

 and development of the branches. But let him undertake 

 to effect the same object by root-pruning, and there will be 

 more danger of injuring the trees than of securing the ob- 

 ject in view. A tree should never be root-pruned except 

 by a person who has had extensive experience in the cul- 

 ture of trees. Let beginners beware of this unnatural and 

 dangerous process of mutilating the roots. If the terminal 

 shoots of a tree seem disposed to continue to grow after 

 the period has passed when all the wood should have been 

 fully ripened, take the pruner, Fig. 60, p. 133, and clip off 



