136 



QAEDENIKG FOB PLEASURE. 



branched busli which will bear its fruit all within reach. 

 The grower of plants in pots is usually afraid to remove 

 eyen a single inch of the stem, and the result is usually 

 a lot of " leggy" specimens not worth the care that is 

 otherwise bestowed upon them. Plants may be prevented 

 from ever reaching this condition, if their growth be 

 properly controlled by pinching ; but if they have once 

 reached it, they should be cut back severely, and a com- 

 pact bushy form obtained from the new shoots which will 

 soon start. The mechanical part of pruning is very sim- 

 ple, a sharp knife is the best implement, as it makes a 

 clean cut, without bruising 

 the bark, and the wound 

 quickly heals ; but shears are 

 much easier to handle, and 

 the work can be done so 

 much more quickly, that they 

 are generally preferred, and 

 for rampant growing bushes 

 will answer, but upon fruit- 

 trees, and choice plants gen- 

 erally, the knife is to be pre- 

 ferred. The cut should be 

 made just at a joint ; not so 

 far above it as to leave a 

 stub, as in fig. 49, which will die back to the bud, there 

 being nothing to contribute to its growth ; nor should it 

 be made so close to the bud as to endanger it, as in fig. 

 48 ; the cut should start just opposite the lower part of 

 the bud and end just above its top, as in fig. 50. For 

 the removal of branches too large to cut with the knife, 

 as must sometimes be done on neglected "trees, a saw is 

 required. Saws are made especially for the purpose, but 

 any narrow one with the teeth set wide will answer ; the 

 rough cut left by the saw should be pared smooth, and if 

 an inch or more in diameter, the wound should be cov- 



Fig. 48. Fig. 49. Fig. 50. 



WHERE TO CUT IN PRUNING. 



