PRUNING. 133 



CHAPTEE XLIY. 



PEUNING. 



Though the chapter on pruning is placed at the com- 

 mencement of that division of the work which treats 

 upon fruits, the fact must not be lost sight of that prun- 

 ing is often quite as necessary upon trees and shrubs cul- 

 tivated for their flowers or foliage as upon those grown 

 for their fruit. In pruning we cut away some portion of 

 a tree, shrub, or other plant, for the benefit of that which 

 remains, and whether performed upon a branch six inches 

 through, or upon a shoot so tender as to be cut by the 

 thumb-nail, is essentially the same. The operation, 

 though very simple, is one which the amateur often 

 fears to undertake, and having no confidence in his 

 own ability, he often employs some jobbing gar- 

 dener, who has no fears on this or any other gar- 

 dening matter. Pruning is done for various ends, 

 and unless one has a definite reason for doing it, he had 

 better leave it undone : Many have an idea that pruning 

 must, for some reason, be done every year, just as it used 

 to be thought necessary for people to be bled every spring, 

 whether well or ill. We prune to control the shape of a 

 tree or shrub, and by directing the growth from one part 

 to another, obtain a symmetrical form, especially in fruit 

 trees, where it is desirable that the weight of fruit be 

 equally distributed. In some trees where the fruit is 

 grown only on the wood of the previous season, the bear- 

 ing portions are each year removed further and further 

 from the body of the tree ; in such cases a shortening of 

 the growth each year will cause the formation of a com- 

 pact head instead of the loose straggling that results 

 when this is omitted. We prune to renew the vigor of a 

 plant ; the inexperienced cannot understand how cutting 



