Recuperative Capacity 27 



leaved trees the stump, if not too old, will have dormant 

 buds still alive below the bark to force themselves through 

 and make sprouts to replace the lost bole; or else the cam- 

 bium layer may form new, so-called adventitious buds for 

 the same purpose. 



Lost roots too can be replaced, if conditions are favorable, 

 through adventitious buds, a fact of importance in trans- 

 planting trees, when usually a part of the root system can- 

 not be taken up, and must be replaced by the tree in its 

 new position. 



Upon this observation of the replacement of lost parts the 

 practice of pruning is based : the tree pruner, by lopping off 

 branches and thereby changing conditions of nutrition, 

 produces at will new branches, and influences direction, 

 character, and amount of development. 



Tree surgery becomes, therefore, next to securing favor- 

 able soil conditions, the most important factor in the care 

 of trees, for it enables us to remove diseased, malformed, 

 undesirable parts without fear of harm to remaining por- 

 tions and with the possibility of restoring to symmetry and 

 vigor a dilapidated and sickly tree ruin. 



With old age, to be sure, this capacity for replacement 

 may be lost in the older parts, and it must also be kept in 

 mind that different species are more or less vigorous in 

 developing dormant buds. 



The essential points, then, of tree hfe to be kept in view 

 in the care of trees are : — 



T. The living portion of the tree is found in the cam- 

 bium layer directly under the bark and in the tips of branches 

 (buds) and roots. 



2. Root tips and foliage are in direct communication 

 with each other and interdependent, relying on each other 

 for food. 



