242 Principles of Plant Culture. 



Section III. Pruning 



416. Pruning is the removal of a part of a plant, in 

 order that the remainder may better serve our purpose. 



The parts of plants, being less highly specialized than 

 those of animals, may be removed with less damage to 

 the individual than is possible with animals, except in 

 the lowest types. 



The word pruning, as commonly used, applies chiefly 

 to the removal of parts of woody plants with the knife, 

 shears or saw, but the operations defined below properly 

 come under the same head. 



a — Pinching is the removal with the thumb and finger 

 of the undeveloped nodes at the terminus of growing 

 shoots, in order to check growth. 



b — Trimmhig or dressing, when applied to young nur- 

 sery stock, is the shortening of both roots and stem, pre- 

 paratory to planting in nursery rows. The roots are 

 shortened to facilitate planting, and the stems are short- 

 ened to reduce the number of buds (409 c). 



c — Topping is the removal of the iiower stalk, as in 

 tobacco, to prevent exhaustion of the plant by the forma- 

 tion of seed. 



d — De-tasseling is the removal of the staminate flowers, 

 (tassels) of undesirable plants of Indian corn, to prevent 

 pollination from them (151). 



e — 8ucJcering is the removal of shoots that start about 

 the base of the stem, or in the axils of the leaves, as in 

 Indian corn or tobacco. Its object is to prevent exhaus- 

 tion of the plant by the production of needless shoots. 



f — Disbudding is the removal of dormant buds, to pre- 

 vent the development of undesirable shoots. 



