PRUNING. 87 



The best instrument is the common " pruning knife." 

 It cuts far cleaner than the " shears," besides which the 

 natives very seldom use the latter well. What is called in 

 England a " hedge-bill " is useful to trim the outsides of the 

 trees. If required it must be got from England, as I do not 

 think it is procurable in Calcutta. Whatever instruments 

 are used should be kept very sharp, and for this purpose, 

 besides sharpening them every morning on the grinding 

 stone, each pruner should be provided with a small pocket 

 " hone." 



The theory, and it is correct, is in pruning, to cut near 

 above a bud or branch, but not near enough to injure them. 

 The cut should be quite clean and sloping upwards, so that 

 nothing can lodge on it. This theory can be, and must be, 

 strictly carried out in cutting the thick stems and branches, 

 but it is quite impossible to do it with the slender branches 

 or twigs of the tree. 



Prune so as to cause lateral growth. A Tea plant should 

 never be allowed to exceed, say, 4 feet in height, but the 

 wider it is the better. 



Prune off all lower branches tending downwards,* for 

 the plant should, if possible, be clean underneath to a height 

 of, say, 6 inches. This clean stem high class plants have 

 naturally, not so the Chinese, or the Chinese cast of 

 hybrid. 



Plants should be more or less pruned out in the centre. 

 In the following spring young wood is then formed in the 

 heart of the tree, and it is only young wood and shoots that 

 give leaf. 



Plants, if above two years old (see foot note next page), 

 exceeding 2 J feet in height at the end of the season (and all 

 plants of any age will) may be pruned down to 20 inches, 



* The best plan with the lowest branches is to pull them off, with a sharp 

 downward action, as then they will not grow again. 



