Pruning. 265 



desirable soon to learn the quality of the fruit. To be 

 successful, it must be performed rather early in the 

 growing season, and before the time for the formation 

 of flower-buds. The blossoms do not usually appear 

 until the season following the pinching. 



With plants that flower at the terminal growing points 

 of the principal branches, such as the spirses, hydran- 

 geas, rhododendrons, etc., pinching to promote flowering 

 is not advisable, since it tends to reduce the size of the 

 flower clusters. 



(b) By cutting back the new growth. Woody plants 

 that flower on stems more than one year old, such as the 

 apple, pear, currant, etc., when grown on rich or well 

 cultivated ground, or that have been too severely 

 pruned, often tend to produce an excess of new wood 

 with a very feeble development of flower-buds. In such 

 cases, it- is advisable to equalize the growth by a mod- 

 erate cutting back of all the young shoots. This must, 

 however, be done with judgment. If the cutting back 

 is too severe, it will stimulate more wood growth rather 

 than the development of flower-buds. 



(c) By root pruning. This checks growth by reduc- 

 ing the number of root-tips, and thus cuts ofl" a part of 

 the water supply. It is applicable to the same cases as 

 pinching, and is accomplished by cutting off the ex- 

 tremities of the roots by inserting the spade in a circle 

 about the plant, or in the case of trees of considerable 

 size, by digging a trench sufficiently deep to sever the 

 lateral roots. The severity of the root pruning advis- 

 able will depend upon the vigor of the growth it is de- 

 sired to check. 



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