256 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



even in the nursery-row. The judicious pruner, being well 

 aware of the upward tendency of young growth, and that 

 this is increased by the crowded condition of the trees in 

 the nursery square, seeks to overcome the evil by proper 

 pruning. If the growth be altogether upward, with no 

 side branches the first season, the stem will be slender, 

 often so much so as to bend over with its own weight. 

 The wise nurseryman carefully avoids disturbing the 

 leaves or lateral branches, well knowing their importance 

 in forming the woody trunk. At the proper season he 

 trims his trees down, instead of trimming them up this 

 he does by heading them back to the hight at which he 

 desires them to form their branches at the same time, he 

 shortens in the laterals ; his object in both instances being 

 to check the upward tendency of growth by removing the 

 strong terminal buds, which would naturally have formed 

 the new shoots the coming season. The result of this 

 treatment is to call into action several buds at the upper 

 part of the stock. These are to form the arms of the tree, 

 and hence a very important part of the pruning and train- 

 ing of the plant is thus performed at once by this simple 

 operation of heading-back the young nursery tree. But 

 further attention is needed, as these arms develop them- 

 selves during the next season of growth ; they should 

 not be too numerous, nor too much crowded together ; 

 they should not be too nearly matched in strength, and 

 one should be kept as a leader, stronger than the rest. 

 Never allow two shoots to remain contending for the mas- 

 tery ; one of them should be subordinated by cutting, 

 breaking, or twisting, as soon as it is observed ; for how 

 beautifully developed, a tree grown in this way, may ap- 



