240 APPLICATION OF PEINCIPLES. 



commun^ment a des ouvriers peu instruits, observ6e 

 dans les r6sultats d'une pratique trop souvent irre- 

 flechie, elle a du necessairement trouver des d^trac- 

 teurs m^me parmi les physiologistes. II en eut sans 

 doute 6i6 autrement, si onravaitdtudi6e dans les jardins 

 du petit nombre de praticiens qui ont su de nos jours 

 la bien comprendre. Sagement bas^e sur les lois de 

 la v^g^tation, elle contribue, entre leurs mains, non 

 seulement a r^gulariser la production des fruits, k en 

 obtenir de plus beaux, mais encore a prolonger I'ex- 

 istence et la fecondit^ des arbres." 



Nothing can be more just than these words, 

 addressed to the Horticultural Society of Paris, by 

 their President, M. H^ricart de Thury ; and, if they 

 do not apply with as much force to our gardeners as 

 to those of France, they do most fully to our forest- 

 ers. 



The quantity of timber that a tree forms, the 

 amount and quality of its secretions, the brilliancy of 

 its colours, the size of its flowers, and, in short, its 

 whole beauty, depend upon the action of its branches 

 and leaves, and their healthiness (64). The object of 

 the pruner is to diminish the number of leaves and 

 branches ; whence it may be at once understood how 

 delicate are the operations he has to practise, and how 

 thorough a knowledge he ought to possess of ^11 the 

 laws which regulate the action of the organs of vege- 

 tation. If well directed, pruning is one of the most 

 useful, and, if ill-directed, it is among the most mis- 

 chievous, operations that can take place upon a 

 plant. 



