THE LIFE AND GROWTH OF SEEDLINGS 



27 



The art of pruning requires great care. It is easy when the shoots 

 are leafless as in winter, and all that has to be done is to cut out 

 the thin twigs in the centre. Summer pruning may take place 

 any time from the end of May. The young vigorous shoots of 

 the current year have to be 

 restrained, as they are drain- 

 ing the sap from the roots. 

 These shoots when they are 

 about 6 inches or a foot long 

 are just pinched at their 

 tips ; a fair number of leaves 

 should be left and then the 

 sap is just drawn past the 

 buds, which practically remain 

 dormant until the next year. 

 The short shoots, with the 

 leaves in a rosette round the 

 terminal bud, do not, as a rule, 

 require pruning, neither do 

 those bearing blossom. Not 

 only is the amateur gardener 

 apt to cut the wrong shoots, 

 but he is apt to cut in the 

 wrong way. It is said that 

 there are about 359 wrong 

 ways to cut a shoot, but 

 only one right way. The 

 cut should be begun on the 

 opposite side of the stem to 

 that on which the bud which 

 is to be left is situated, and 

 the cut should pass through 

 an angle of 45. 



Roots themselves are sometimes pruned in mild weather 

 in the autumn or winter, either to prevent too rampant growth, 

 or to induce fruitfulness. If roots are growing very rapidly 

 and spreading through the soil very freely, they take up food 

 very vigorously, fresh shoots are formed, and the flower 



FIG. 12. Apparatus for measuring root-pres- 

 sure. /, a T-shaped glass tube ; z, india- 

 rubber tubing ; s, stem ; m, mercury. 



