264 Principles of Plant Culture. 



desirable to soon learn the quality of the fruit. To be 

 successful, it must be performed rather early in the 

 growing season, and before the time for the formation 

 of flower-buds. The blossoms do not usually appear 

 until the season following the pinching. 



With plants that flower at the terminal growing 

 points of the principal branches, as the spiraeas, hy- 

 drangeas, rhododendrons, etc., pinching to promote 

 flowering is not advisable, as it tends to reduce the 

 size of the flower clusters. , 



(b) By cutting back the new growth. Woody plants 

 that flower on stems more than one year old,. as the 

 apple, pear, currant, etc., when grown on rich or well 

 cultivated ground, or that have been too severely 

 pruned, often tend to produce an excess of new wood 

 with a very feeble development of flower-buds. In 

 such cases, it is advisable to equalize the growth by a 

 moderate cutting back of all the young shoots. This 

 must, however, be done with judgment. If the cut- 

 ting back is too severe, it will stimulate more wood 

 growth rather than the development of flower-buds.^ 



(c) By root pruning. This checks growth by reduc- 

 ing the number of root-tips, and thus cuts off a part of 

 the water supply. It is applicable to the same cases as 

 pinching, and is accomplished by cutting off the ex- 

 tremities of the roots by inserting the spade in a circle 

 about the plant, or in the case of trees of considerable 

 size, by digging a trench sufficiently deep to sever the 

 lateral roots. The severity of the root pruning advis- 

 able will depend upon the vigor of the growth it is de- 

 sired to check. 



