XX.] EFFECTS OP PRUNING. 345 



because not well done ; but these instances were no 

 doubt relatively just as common generations ago as 

 they are now. In fact, I should look for worse 

 results from the old, careless methods of top -grafting 

 than from recent methods where the union is protected 

 by the soil, and where every effort is made to heal 

 the wound quickly. In general, I know of no evi- 

 dence to show that graftage is necessarily a weakening 

 process.* 



It is still an open question as to whether or not 

 root - grafting tends to shorten the life of the apple 

 tree. It may be that in certain cases it does, as in 

 particular varieties which do not readily strike root 

 from the cion, or in particular ways of performing 

 the operation. Yet I am inclined to think that root- 

 grafting is not a general cause of lessening of lon- 

 gevity, from the fact that the budded orchards, which 

 are abundant everywhere in the east, appear to fail 

 as soon as grafted ones. 



8. Pruning. — There are many growers who suppose 

 that pruning weakens the tree and induces shortness 

 of life. I have not yet learned of any reason for this 

 belief, other than the statement that pruning is "un- 

 natural." In our discussion of graftage, we observed 

 that these so-called unnatural processes are not 

 necessarily devitalizing. But pruning is not un- 

 natural. No orchardist prunes so heavily as nature 

 does in destroying the branches of saplings which are 

 to form trees of the forest ; and the greater the vigor 

 and persistence required, the more she prunes. And 

 more than this, nature is entirely undogmatic, and 



*For a more specific discussion of the supposed devitalizing effects of craft- 

 age, the reader is referred to the third edition of The Nursery -Book. 



