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CHAPTER V. 



EVIL EFFECTS OF PRUNING. 



IN regard to pruning as a specific for unhealthy or 

 diseased trees, by imparting vitality through enriching 

 and liquefying the dry unhealthy bark : this is only 

 another imaginary benefit, void of any practical truth, 

 suggested, in all likelihood, by the vigorous fresh spray 

 or young shoots which burst forth from any suddenly 

 exposed part of the stem, or from interruption or de- 

 rangement of the sap- vessels. It is quite a common 

 circumstance to see trees at all stages of growth, from 

 the sapling upwards, whether as growing trees or after 

 being cut down, exercise a sort of dying effort, and 

 make a display of splendid, young, healthy foliage and 

 vigorous shoots, which continue growing in autumn a 

 full month after the older and undisturbed branches 

 have matured their wood and ceased to grow : proving, 

 not as some would have it, that the tree has regained 

 vitality and is recovering from a state of lethargy or 

 disease, but, on the contrary, that it is making a last 

 spasmodic effort to prolong life at a great and danger- 

 ous sacrifice, living, as it were, upon itself, and con- 

 suming its own vitals in order to make a fair but out- 

 ward show of flickering life. 



There are in all trees what are termed latent buds 



