78 PRUXIXG 



For numbers not <^iven in the above table, take the square of the distance 

 apart the trees are required to stand, in feet, into 43.560 ; the result is the 

 number of plants required per acre. 



PRUNING 



There are various modes of pruning, each class of plants 

 requiring more or less different treatment, but the principle under- 

 lying all methods is the same. This may be briefly described as 

 the concentration of vigour into certain parts of the plant by the 

 cutting away of other portions, either of the stem, branches, roots, 

 or leaves. The object in view may be the production of a larger 

 yield or better quality of fruits or flowers, straight clean trunks (as 

 in timber and rubber cultivation), twisted or bent stems (for 

 furniture- making, etc.), wide spreading branches (for shade), or an 

 abundance of young shoots and foliage, as in Tea cultivation. 



PRUNING KNIFE. 



By means of pruning, trees or bushes may be induced to assume 

 a form which will not only add to their productiveness, but also 

 facilitate the harvesting or plucking of the crop. The plants should 

 be encouraged when young to form an evenly balanced head, with 

 the branches radiating regularly from the centre. The more up- 

 right and straight a shoot grows, the freer will be the circulation 

 of its sap, and therefore, as a rule, the more active its vitality. 

 The effect of pruning is analogous to that of manuring, and this 

 fact is taken advantage of when hard priming is applied to bushes 



