ROOT-PRUNING HOW DEMONSTRATED. QI 



planting a tree with as many roots attached as it is practica- 

 ble to remove with it. It would seem at first that there is 

 overwhelming evidence against any other course of reasoning 

 that may be applied to this subject. The roots are the 

 absorbing organs, which take up from the food-stored soil all 

 the water and the larger part of the mineral and solid foods 

 which enter into the composition of a tree. It seems irre- 

 futable that if any of the absorbing area is removed, the tree 

 is thereb) 7 shortened in its food supply in the same direct pro- 

 portion. It must be admitted that this is true if done during 

 the growing season, when the "sap " (protoplasm} of a tree is 

 in a state of activity ; but is it the case during the period of 

 rest, when the "sap" is in a thickened, inactive, non-trans- 

 ferable condition ? It is the conditions a plant takes on dur- 

 ing its inactive stage that do not seem to have been consid- 

 ered by our older writers on practical horticulture. Plant 

 physiologists have understood these conditions well, and 

 have shown that "sap" does not "go down to the roots" in 

 fall and return to the parts above ground in spring, as is so 

 commonly believed. They tell us (and common observation 

 proves it) that the "sap" toward fall gradually thickens and 

 ripens as growth above lessens, till finally it becomes com- 

 pletely immobile ; but during this inactive stage it does not 

 lose its power to return to active life when the warmth of 

 spring returns. 



In this stage of a woody plant, parts of it may be removed 

 that may become new individuals if placed under proper con- 

 ditions of heat and moisture. Most of our fruit trees may 

 be propagated from either cuttings of shoots or of the roots. 

 If a piece of tree (cutting) will grow without roots, what 

 must that argue as to the condition and nature of the sap 

 within such cuttings ? Microscopic sections of such cuttings 

 show that the young wood cells are stored full of starch and 

 other concentrated food materials. When spring comes, with 

 plenty of heat and moisture, this stored food is transformed 

 into these simpler and more easily transferred food materials 

 which a plant can use in growth. 



This requires but a small amount of water, which is 



