PRUNING 47 



have a tendency to become unduly bushy-headed and dumpy in appear- 

 ance, and to lose that stateliness which properly proportioned height 

 and breadth give. The first aim in pruning is to prevent this deformity 

 and to obtain a straight strong trunk or central axis of sufficient height. 



There is also another consideration. No danger to big trees is so 

 common as that which arises from the forking of the trunk. This divides 

 the tree into two, three, or more parts, which do not always sway in 

 unison during high winds, in consequence of which a crack starts sooner 

 or later at the fork. Damp enters, fungoid parasites follow, and finally 

 a storm comes which rends the tree in twain. In sheltered places and 

 in plantations the danger from winds is not great ; but the majority of 

 our specimen trees are given space for their fullest development and need 

 a strong single bole. Most people admire loftiness in trees, but height in 

 isolated specimens adds to the risk of damage by wind. It will nearly 

 always be found that trees of great age and size are comparatively low and 

 spreading, or, if they are lofty, their trunks are undivided for the greater 

 part of their length. All the lofty trees of the earth the gum trees of 

 Australia, the pines, firs and sequoias of North America, and the palms 

 of the tropics are of this type. 



The Leading Shoot. To secure the development of a trunk of this 

 character, it is necessary to keep a watch on it when it is young The 

 first and most important point is that it should always be kept to a single 

 leading shoot. As long as the top of the tree remains accessible to the 

 pruner, rival leaders should be shortened back or removed ; and if the 

 original leader by accident gets broken, it should be replaced by another 

 shoot. In most of our deciduous trees a suitable side shoot near the top 

 can usually be selected to replace the broken leader. It should, if 

 necessary, be brought into position by tying to a stake, and may be 

 encouraged to make headway by pruning back other shoots near that 

 might otherwise assume the lead. 



But many CONIFERS, especially those of the spruce and fir tribes, pro- 

 duce their branches in regular tiers or whorls, and such branches are 

 of no use for replacing a lost leading shoot. They are not capable of 

 transforming themselves into erect-growing shoots, and if one be tied up 

 it always tries to regain its original horizontal or drooping position. 

 Propagators of these conifers experience the same difficulty when they 

 attempt to increase their stock by grafting, or rooting, side branches. 

 To obtain a new leader for these trees, the broken one should be cut off 

 close to the uppermost tier of branches, and this tier, and, in cases, the 

 one below, must also be very much shortened back. This will cause 

 the cut-back leader to push out one or more shoots of the erect-growing 

 kind, the most vigorous of which must be selected as the new leading 

 shoot and the others removed. 



