SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 165 



septic and durable, which affords mechanical 

 protection, and which does not of itself injure 

 the tissue of the plant. 



2c. The principles of pruning 



285. We prune (a) to modify the vigor of the 

 plant, (b) to produce larger and better fruits or 

 flowers, (c) to keep the plant within manage- 

 able shape and limits, (d) to make the plant 

 bear more or bear less, (e) to remove super- 

 fluous or injured parts, (/) to facilitate spray- 

 ing and harvesting, (g) to facilitate tillage, 

 (h) to make the plant assume some desired form 

 (properly, training). 



286. Heavy pruning of the top tends to 

 increase growth, or the production of wood. 

 Heavy pruning of the root tends to lessen the 

 production of wood. Water- sprouts generally 

 follow heavy pruning, particularly if the pruning 

 is performed in winter. 



287. Checking growth, so long as the plant 

 remains healthy, tends to cause overgrown plants 

 to bear. One means of checking growth is to 

 withhold fertilizers and tillage ; another is to 

 resort to root- pruning ; another is to head- in or 

 cut-back the young shoots. Some plants, how- 

 ever, bear most profusely when they are very 

 vigorous ; but they are such, for the most part, 

 as have been moderately and continuously vig- 



