as willows, as breaking the wind means lessened evaporation. 

 Test this matter for yourself by hanging out a family wash- 

 ing in two places, part out in the open where fully exposed 

 to the wind and part in some place where the wind is cut off 

 or much broken. In which place will the clothes dry first? 

 The statement is sometimes made that our dry winter winds 

 will take the moisture from our fence posts. Examine the 

 young shoots of as many kinds of trees as you can in early 

 spring for any indication of shrivelling of the bark. Com- 

 pare this to their appearance later, after the abundant spring 

 rains. The twigs will 'be found plump and the shrivelled 

 condition has disappeared. After a dry, open winter, nurs- 

 erymen do not like to dig trees too early before the spring 

 rains have restored the twigs and young shoots to their nor- 

 mal condition. 



Pruning. 



It is natural for evergreens to make their main growth by 

 one central leader with side branches symmetrically arranged. 

 When by some accident the leader is destroyed, a struggle 

 ensues in the next lower whorl as to which is to be the 

 leader. It often happens that two or more branches receive 

 a nearly equal proportion of the flow of sap so that the sym- 

 metry of the tree is ruined. The planter should decide for 

 himself which shoot should be selected for the new leader 

 and by bending it upwards carefully and tying to the stub 

 it will soon take the lead; the rivals are pinched back if it 

 is found necessary. A good rule for pruning evergreens in 

 general is to prune early to promote growth and prune late 

 to check growth. By early pruning is meant early in the 

 spring where it is necessary to improve an uneven evergreen 

 hedge. But avoid pruning below live foliage as conifers do 

 not break easily from old wood. In midsummer shoots that 

 are getting an undue advantage over their neighbors are 

 checked by a light pinching. Often removal of the terminal 

 bud is sufficient. It is a mistake to prune an evergreen 



