30 TREE PRUNING. 



The name indicates the object for which such branches 

 are left ; namely, to attract and elaborate, by means 



Fig. 25. Removal of a portion of a forking branch. A. Preser- 

 vation of a horizontal fork at the end of a shortened branch. 



of their leaves, a sufficient flow of sap to insure the 

 growth of the branch. Sometimes the main branches 

 are so long that it is impossible for the operator to 

 reach the ends where the sap-lifting branchlets should, 

 of course, be left. In the case of the Oak, such 

 branches, except for the appearance of the tree, are 

 of little importance ; and provided the main branch 

 retained is of a certain length (ten or twelve feet), 

 and if it is large and on a large healthy tree, a suffi- 

 cient number of new shoots to insure vigorous growth 

 will soon appear. With the Beech, however, and 

 some other trees which do not develop shoots from 

 dormant buds as freely as the Oak, it is necessary to 

 cut the branch just above the forking of another 

 branch or branchlet large enough to attract sufficient 

 sap to insure a healthy growth. 



