37 



BRANCHES. 



BUDS give origin, as we have seen, to branches, as 

 well as to leaves and flowers ; but the branch ', being 

 a portion of the body or stem of the plant, exactly re- 

 sembles it in structure, and is always of course younger 

 by at least one season in trees. It might be supposed 

 that the stem of a plant would measure as much, or 

 perhaps more, than the head of branches 2 which spring 

 from it, and which it has to support and nourish. So 

 far, however, from this being the case, Du Hamel 

 found by actual measurement, that the solid contents 

 of the whole branches may often be at least a fourth or 

 a fifth more, the trunk usually increasing more slowly 

 than the branches, though it grows gradually more 

 compact, and therefore furnishes the best timber. 



From this circumstance, trees with crowded branches 

 are apt to be weakened and exhausted, and hence the 

 operation of pruning is resorted to for the purpose of 

 repressing luxuriance. As trees, however, do not thrive 

 well without a due supply of leaves, which usually 

 grow on the branches and seldom on the stem, when 

 all the branches are cut off, the tree often dies before it 

 can push out a sufficient number of branches, as I have 

 seen happen with the cherry and the poplar. When 

 the tree is vigorous, it survives the loss of its branches, 

 and pushes out fresh ones in a crowded form, as may 

 be seen in the acacias in Belgium, which look more 

 like mops than trees; the pollard willows and the 

 mutilated elms near London are produced by a similar 



(1) In Latin, llanw-s. (2) In Latin, Coma, improperly Cyma, 



