PRUNING. 303 



tree. The object is to prevent the lateral branches of the trees from 

 injuriously shading the plants under them ; and hence it is chiefly 

 used in the case of trees in hedgerows. 



Spurring-in. The apple, the pear, the cherry, the plum, and other 

 fruit trees, or fruit shrubs, produce what are called spurs, or very 

 short shoots or knobs, covered with blossom-buds naturally, and the 

 object of spurring-in pruning is to produce these knobs artificially. 

 This can only be done with lateral shoots, to which the sap is not 

 impelled with the same vigour as to the growing point, because the 

 great object in producing spurs is to obtain blossom-buds, and these 

 are never produced on the most vigorous shoots. A lateral shoot of 

 the present year being produced, may be shortened to two or three 

 visible buds, either in the beginning of summer after that shoot has 

 grown a few inches in length, or the following winter ; but the former 

 is in general the better season, because it is not desirable to encourage 

 the production of wood, and consequently of sap, but rather to lessen 

 their production, so as to produce stunted branches, which are in fact 

 the spurs. In the second and third years the shoots produced are 

 shortened in the same manner as they were in the first, and it will gene- 

 rally be found that the leaf-buds left on the lower ends of the shoots 

 when cut down will, the year after, become blossom- buds. As by the 

 process of continually shortening the shoots, the spurs in a few years 

 become inconveniently large, they are from time to time cut out and 

 new spurs formed by the same process as before ; and finally, after a 

 certain time, the entire branch bearing the spurs is cut out close to 

 the main stem of the tree, and renewed, as spurs are, by a young shoot 

 produced from its base. The laying-in of small shoots, in place of 

 cutting back to naked branches and spurs, should be more encouraged. 

 More distance than usual should be left between the leading branches, 

 and plenty of young wood nailed in, after the manner of peach-trees. 

 It diminishes the quantity of breast-wood, which is an evident practical 

 anomaly and serves no good purpose, being annually renewed and 

 annually cut out. The growth would be much better spent in 

 producing young wood and fruit, which will not require so much 

 slashing of wood. 



Heading-in is cutting off all the branches which form the head of a 

 tree close to the top of the stem, leaving, however, their base to 

 produce buds. This is done with what are called polled or pollard- 

 trees periodically, for the sake of the branches produced as faggot or 

 fence wood, and with fruit trees when they are to be re-grafted. 



Lopping. This term is very generally applied to heading-in, but it 

 is also as generally used to signify the cutting off large branches from 

 the sides of stems, and in this sense we shall here treat of it. Lopping 

 is performed by Ibresters in three manners, two of which are highly 

 injurious to the timber of the trunk of the tree, and the other not so. 

 The first injuriors practice is that of 



Close lopping, by which a large wound is produced, the surface of 

 which not only never can unite with the new wood which is formed 

 over it, because, as we have seen, growing tissue can only unite, to 



