GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS. 183 



over the whole extent of the tree. It is highly important 

 to preserve the symmetry of the tree-top. The practice of 

 having a little bush at the extremity of a long limb on each 

 side of the tree should be guarded against. There is a wise 

 law of limitation to be observed in the growth and develop- 

 ment of apple-trees. Grape-vines are sometimes trimmed 

 twenty to thirty feet, without a bearing branch or twig. 

 Such vines would be far more productive if the small top 

 that produces the fruit could be placed near the root of the 

 vine. So with apple-trees : if the little bushes at the ends 

 of long and naked branches could be placed near the trunk 

 of the tree, there would be much more fruit. 



Every tree, when it has attained its full size, has thrown 

 out its branches to a certain extent. But why do they 

 stop there ? Why does not the tree continue to extend its 

 branches as long as it is vigorous and healthy ? It is sim- 

 ply because the body and limbs are composed of small and 

 minute pores or grains, which act by capillary attraction, in 

 which the sap rises. Hence the tree extends to a height 

 and distance, graded exactly in proportion to the minute- 

 ness of the pores of the wood. This is the reason why the 

 beech, the hemlock, the spruce, and the pine each attain to 

 a different altitude, when growing side by side in the same 

 soil. "When a branch has attained its full distance, it can 

 not be extended by grafting beyond its own limits. Hence 

 the importance of cutting back long and bare branches, with 

 a view of filling up all the space in the centre of the tree- 

 top. We frequently see a persistent effort made by Dame 

 Nature, when apple-trees have been all trimmed out at the 

 middle of the top, to Jill up that vacant space by producing 

 new shoots every season. Therefore, when all the branch- 

 es but the grafts are removed, the more grafts there are to 

 use the sap, the sooner the tree will be relieved of its press- 

 ure and disposition to form wood, and produce fruit in- 



