Pruning for Form 105 



In the development from youth to old age there can be 

 recognized at least four stages of development, in which 

 the form \-aries. 



In 1864 a Frenchman, AI. A. Des Cars, pubhshed a book- 

 let on the methods of pruning trees,' which is still essentially 

 correct. It was written for forest- 

 ers, with a view to secure the pro- 

 duction of good timber rather 

 tlian for use in ornamental trees. 

 The author develops what he ^'^- 37— "Little Giant" 



^ pruner and saw combined. 



considers the proper form for 



trees, especially oak trees, in the different stages of their 

 development. He also de\ises what he calls a dendro- 

 scope, a piece of thin cardboard, in v.'hich a hole has 

 been cut of the shape which the outline of the tree crown 

 is to assume. A fine wire, stretched from base to top of the 

 whole, serves as a guide in adjusting the dendroscope oppo- 

 site the bole of the tree in front of the eye. By this little 

 device the pruner is aided in determining what branches 

 to remove in order to secure the desired symmetrical form. 

 While we would hardly recommend any strict adherence to 

 the directions given on this point by Des Cars, we reproduce 

 for their suggestiveness the summary of his conclusions, 

 together with the dendroscope and the examples of how to 

 shape a given tree. The use of this device is self-evident. 



I. Young Tree. The length of the branchless trunk 

 should equal one-third of the entire height of the tree. The 

 head should be elongated, ovoid in form, with the center of 

 gravity sufficiently low to keep the tree upright. The lower 

 branches, shortened to prevent excessive development of the 



> A Treatise on Pruning Forest and Ornamental Trees, by A. Des Cars. 

 Translated from the Seventh French Edition, with an Introduction by 

 Chas. S. Sargent, Boston, 1884. 



