TREE-PRUNING 117 



ardor of growth begins to abate, the flower-buds ap- 

 pear, but usually in small numbers because a prod- 

 igal production of fruit causes rapid decline. Co- 

 pious blossoming comes only toward the latter part 

 of life ; a tree never blossoms better than when it 

 is about to die, as if, foreseeing its end, it strove 

 before succumbing to leave behind it a numerous 

 progeny. A thriving tree blossoms little or not at 

 all ; a sickly tree makes haste to blossom. But it is 

 to man's interest that a tree should blossom and 

 bear fruit as early and as abundantly as possible; 

 we demand from it not the branches it would give 

 us without our intervention, but baskets of fruit 

 induced by our care. From this struggle between 

 the natural tendencies of the tree and our own needs 

 has sprung the practice of pruning, or the art of 

 manipulating fruit-trees so as to obtain from them 

 an abundant harvest. 



"Here let us examine the general principles that 

 are to guide us in the practice of this art. The 

 sh^ipe to be given the tree's superstructure of 

 branches and foliage is the first question we must 

 consider. This shape is far from being unimpor- 

 tant; it is, on the contrary, very important, since 

 the circulation of the sap and the distribution of 

 the sun's rays, essential conditions to plant-life, are 

 strictly dependent on it. If the tree is left free to 

 develop by itself and to take its natural form, the 

 sap from the roots will, under the impetus of its 

 ascent, always seek by preference the highest points, 

 where growth will in consequence proceed with vigor, 



