8o TROPICAL AGRICULTURE CHAP, xii 



made coming out just in front of the bud, forming a wound 



at half a right angle to the branch. The reason of this is 



that as soon as the bud develops, as it will do shortly, the 



increased vigour of growth will soon heal up the wound ; but 



if any considerable portion of the stem be left beyond the 



bud, it will die and produce decay in the branch or cause 



the necessity of another pruning operation to remove it. 



Do not prune Care must be taken not to prune trees or shrubs when they 



they are full are full of sap, as they will " bleed " so much as to injure the 



plants. The circulation of the sap is not the same in 



regard to time in all plants, or in the same plants growing 



in different places and in different climates. Observation 



Experiments and experiment are therefore necessary to determine the 



necessary. . _ 



proper time for pruning, and a small cut into the stem 

 of a plant will always show if bleeding is likely to take 

 place. 



