292 PRUNING. 



well endure. Bearing in mind, then, the natural 

 characteristics of any individual species of tree, and 

 what it is in its highest natural state of perfection, we 

 ought in all our efforts at culture, whether of planting, 

 thinning, or pruning, to seek that attainment, or as 

 near an approximation to it as possible. 



Many individual trees may never need any correc- 

 tion at all. But there is a large class of the choice 

 ornamental coniferse belonging to the genera cupressus, 

 thuja, juniper, and retinospora, which are much bene- 

 fited by annual pruning. They have all a greater or 

 less tendency to form a multiplicity of leading shoots, 

 which generally, in the long-run, leads to their be- 

 coming unequally balanced and irregular in shape, and 

 made up of many weak stems that are liable to break 

 away under pressure of wind, heavy rain, or snow. 



