WATER SPROUTS 155 



young shoot draws like a parasite upon the food 

 matter of the older branch; this applies as much 

 to the consumption of water as to the stored -up 

 material." 



More than this, one shoot may rob another, and 

 thereby grow the faster. Shoots may be both 

 parasites and robbers. Very vigorous shoots 

 rarely have leaf surface enough to supply their 

 own needs. Being profusely supplied with water, 

 they appropriate building materials which have 

 been elaborated by other branches. Such shoots 

 are watersprouts or suckers. Robbers should be 

 arrested. 



7. Watersprouts are results of a disturbed equi- 

 librium of the plant; and the formation 

 of watersprouts is influenced more by the 

 vigor of the plant and the amount of prun- 

 ing than by the season of the year in 

 which the pruning is done. 



This is really a corollary to Section 1. We 

 know that heavy pruning produces wood, and 

 this extra production may arise either as an 

 elongation of existing shoots or in the origina- 

 tion of wholly new shoots. When these new 

 shoots are particularly lusty, they are water- 

 sprouts. Fig. Ill explains the outcome of heavy 

 pruning. 



If the reader agrees to the above propositions, 

 then he must admit that the season of pruning 



