Growth 



327 



enter the central portion of the tree, for the encourage- 

 ment of fruit production throughout. 



In the majority of cases, cutting out some of the old 

 wood or pruning off a portion of the young wood, incites 

 more vigorous growth in the parts remaining. A too 

 heavy pruning may be distinctly injurious. It may incite 

 a large sucker or water-shoot growth at the expense of 



tf-'-'^Hf/ri! 



FIG. 83. Pear trees trained against a wall. 



fruiting, produce a general weakening of the tree, espe- 

 cially by loss of organic food to the roots, and finally 

 become a source of danger through the unnecessary 

 wounds. In general, pruning is most common in order to 

 maintain a certain balance between vegetative growth and 

 fruiting. No plant can illustrate this relationship better 

 than the grape. A failure to prune during a single season 

 will be followed by the development of a- large number of 



