to turn this surplus energy into a sudden new growth of 

 wood and foliage r or get real peevish and quit altogether. 

 Beyond a certain point the old Dame can be neither 

 coddled nor blarneyed along. 



So we begin to get an idea of what we can accomplish 

 with our little pruning shears ; and to realize the direction 

 in which we can work and the fact that there are limita- 

 tions beyond which we cannot go. The first thing, we 

 may repeat, so that there will be less danger of your for- 

 getting it, is to fix your ideal to prune to in each case, 

 before the first snip is made. The second thing is to do 

 your snipping in such a way that there will be the least 

 possibility of injuring the plant. In other words, the 

 pruner should be a good surgeon as well as a good 

 diagnostician. And that we will take up in the next 

 chapter. 



