252 Principles of Plant Culture. 



a short tube B B should extend through the cork and 

 to near the bottom of the flask, to admit air. 



Fig. 160 Fie. 151 Fig. 152 



PIG. 150. A poorly-potted plant. No provision is made for 

 drainage; the pot is filled to the top with soil, leaving no space 

 to receive the water; and the stem of the plant is not at the 

 center of the pot. 



FiG. 151. A well-potted plant. A, potsherds; B, moss. 



PIG. 152. A poorly -fhif ted plant. C, open spaces due to In- 

 sufficient pressing of the soil. 



Flower-buds should generally be removed from re- 

 cently-transplanted plants (139). 



SECTION III. PR'UNING. 



416. Pruning is the removal of a part of a plant, in 

 order that the remainder may better serve our purpose. 



The parts of plants, being less highly specialized than 

 those of animals, may be removed with less damage to 

 the individual than is possible with animals, except in 

 the lowest types. 



The word pruning, as commonly used, applies chiefly 

 to the removal of parts of woody plants with the knife, 

 shears or saw, but the operations defined below prop- 

 erly come under the same head. 



a Pinching is the removal with the thumb and fin- 

 g er f the undeveloped nodes at the terminus of grow- 

 ing shoots, in order to check growth. 



