Pruning and Training Plants 



119 



food substance that 

 would be used in ma- 

 turing the seed is used 

 to build new flower- 

 buds. 



182. Pruning to Pro- 

 tect Plants from dis- 

 ease and mechanical 

 injury is often neces- 

 sary. Dead branches 

 may fall and do much 

 injury to the other 

 limbs unless removed; 

 or, they may become 

 diseased by the fungi 

 of decay and transmit 

 the disease to the 

 heart-wood of the 

 trunk, thus mak- 

 ing the plant 

 weaker. Fig. 62. 

 Dead or diseased 

 branches, such 



as pear blight, 

 should be cut off 

 below the dis- 

 eased part, and 

 burned to prevent 

 the spread of the 

 disease. 



183. Thinning 

 Fruit is a form of 

 pruning. It often 



Fig. 62. Effect of improper pruning. The larger 

 stump became diseased and the heart-wood 

 in turn. The fungus mycelium caused the 

 heart-wood to decay, as shown in the cross- 

 section. The fruiting fungus is shown at A. 

 From photograph by Prof. Geo. F. Atkinson. 



