524 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



abnormal parts, though such treatment is most effective in the ear- 

 lier training of the plant. As trees get older it becomes necessary 

 to cut out some of the inner branches to open up the crown, thereby 

 overcoming a crowded or brushy appearance, and providing for con- 

 tinued symmetrical development of the tree as a whole. The numer- 

 ous dead limbs in the centers of even healthy trees are excellent wit- 

 nesses to this fact. 



How and When to Prune. In all cases the cutting should be 

 done close up to the trunk or branches and parallel to the surface 

 of the bark, and the cut should be left smooth. Decaying projecting 

 spurs are not only unsightly in themselves, but also retard healing 

 over, and form excellent lodgment for fungous diseases. Hollow 

 trunks commonly result from neglect of this character. The above 

 is particularly true in the case of large branches, the removal of 

 which leaves wounds of some considerable size. Late winter or early 

 spring pruning is best for all ordinary purposes, as it induces an 

 extra growth of wood the following season which is always desirable 

 with ornamentals. 



Large, branches should not be removed just previous to nor 

 during the period of most rapid growth of the tree as serious bleed- 

 ing may result; neither should they be cut off in the late summer 

 or fall, since a considerable period must elapse before healing-over of 

 the wound can take place. In the removal of such limbs it is best to 

 make two cute, the first one 18 or 20 inches above the point where 

 the final one is to be made. In this way danger from tearing the 

 bark or otherwise damaging the trunk is overcome. After the first 

 cut has been completed, which removes most of the weight of the 

 limb, the final one can be made with ease and accuracy. Cutting 

 first on the under side and then on the upper side of a large limb 

 will usually secure the same result, though it is less certain. A heavy 

 coat of thick lead paint, preferably of the color of the bark, should 

 be applied to all wounds an inch or more in diameter. This not only 

 improves appearances, but also renders such surfaces immune to 

 fungus attacks and checking by weather. 



Where one has but a few trees to attend, it is possible to handle 

 them so as to make necessary the removal of only small limbs or 

 sprouts, and the occasional pinching back of a branch that has out- 

 done its neighbors. Trees cared for in this way are more uniform 

 and symmetrical in their development, and make more rapid prog- 

 ress than others. In the case of trees or shrubs grown principally for 

 flowers, those blossoming early in the spring season, like the locust, 

 lilac, laurustinus and flowering quince, should not be topped or 

 pruned until after flowering time, since such cutting would remove 

 most of their blossom buds. On the other hand, those that flower 

 late in the summer, as hibiscus, virgin's bower or clematis, and elder, 

 should be pruned at the usual time, i. e., in the early spring, since 

 the blossoms of such species almost invariably develop on twigs of 

 the same season's growth, and pruning at this time increases the 

 number of these twigs. 



