The Story-Book of the Fields 



sap for shoots ; it produces strong branches 

 and abundant foliage without any signs of 

 flowering. Later on, when the branches are 

 strong and the impulse of growth begins to 

 slacken, flowering shoots appear, but these 

 are generally few in number, because the 

 abundant production of fruit is the cause of 

 rapid waste. Abundant blossom only comes 

 at the end of life. A tree never flowers 

 better than when it is about to die, as if, 

 anticipating its end, it was trying to leave a 

 numerous posterity. A strong tree produces 

 little or no blossom, but a dying tree flowers 

 abundantly. But it is for the interest of man 

 that the tree should flower and bear fruit as 

 quickly and as abundantly as possible : we 

 do not require the branches that it would 

 produce without our interference, but the 

 loads of fruit evoked by our care. Pruning, 

 or the art of managing fruit trees so as to 

 obtain abundant fruit, is the result of this 

 struggle between the natural tendencies of the 

 tree and our own needs. 



If we examine the general principles which 

 are to guide us in the practice of this art, the 

 first question that occurs concerns the form 

 that the branches are to assume. This form, 

 far from being a matter of indifference, is of 



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