The Pruning of Trees 



2. Pruning the top invigorates the branches that remain, 

 the root system being unchanged. 



3. Removing terminal buds induces forking, thus thickening 

 the branching system. It checks wood production, and en- 

 courages the production of flowers and fruit. 



4. Unpruned trees tend to wood production. 



5. Summer pruning reduces the struggle among leaves and 

 twigs for light and produces stronger buds for spring. 



6. Winter pruning removes superfluous buds, inducing 

 greater vigour in those that are left to develop. 



7. Dead wood should be taken out at any season and burned. 



8. The best time to prune, generally speaking, is just before 

 growth starts in spring. 



9. Early winter pruning is undesirable because the healing 

 of wounds must wait till spring. 



10. Yearly pruning is better than pruning at less frequent 

 intervals. 



PRUNING SHADE TREES 



An ideal shade tree has the character of its species or variety, 

 as the oval of the hard maple or the broad dome of the white oak 

 or the fan top of the elm. It has the greatest possible foliage 

 mass on a sturdy framework of trunk and limbs. To keep this 

 dome intact, losing just enough for the health of the leaves, is the 

 object of pruning. It needs only the removal of dead and broken 

 limbs and of those that interfere and crowd. Wayward limbs 

 are cut back to preserve the tree's symmetry. Long, heavy 

 limbs that threaten to split away from the trunk by their weight 

 are cut back. 



In fact, shade trees take care of themselves almost altogether. 

 Accidents to their limbs are usually responsible for conditions that 

 make pruning necessary. 



PRUNING ORNAMENTAL TREES 



Here is a wide range of choice. If foliage is the ornamental 

 feature, or a multitude of flo^/ers, no matter how small, little 

 thinning of branches will be required. If size of flowers is more 

 important than numbers, thinning should be thorough. Late- 

 blooming kinds are best pruned in spring: early-blooming kinds, 



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