The first step in any kind of pruning should be to 

 determine definitely, in advance, just what it is we want 

 to accomplish. Without that ideal in the mind's eye, to 

 work to, we are not likely to do much better than Nature 

 unassisted would do, and may bungle the whole job. 

 All the different kinds of pruning there are to be done 

 may be classed under the three following heads. Of 

 course, two or three of these may be applied to the same 

 plant, but they are distinct, nevertheless. 



1. Pruning to increase general health and vigor. 



2. Pruning to get a special form of growth. 



3. Pruning to increase quantity or improve quality 

 of the product. 



1. Pruning to Increase General Health and 

 Vigor. — Pruning to be done for this purpose will depend 

 very largely upon the kind of plant ; some being bene- 

 fitted by quite severe pruning, while others do better 

 with hardly any at all. The first step in pruning for 

 general health should be to remove all dead growth, and 

 to cut all dying and diseased growth back to live healthy 

 wood. The second step is to remove growth which is 

 likely to injure or be injured by some other part of the 

 plant, such as limbs in fruit trees which cross one another 

 and rub together; tall canes in the rose garden which 

 might whip about in the wind, etc. Thirdly, remove 

 such superfluous growth as there may be, — that is, 

 any parts of the plant which may not, for any reason, 

 be needed to get the results you are after. In the case 

 of most shrubs, climbing roses, and ornamentals, this 

 includes old wood that is not yet dead, but which takes 

 up sunlight and space that could be used to better 

 advantage by the freer flowering new growth which 

 is constantly struggling to take its place. 



In addition to this the parts of the plant remaining 

 should be pruned back to the extent which experience 

 has shown to be desirable for the particular thing in 

 hand. More detailed information concerning the dif- 

 ferent plants is given in the chapters which follow, but 

 in general it may be said that : 



Vigorous plants should be pruned LESS SEVERELY than 

 weak grouting plants 



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