Pruning. 235 
e— Suckering is the removal of shoots that start about 
the base of the stem, or in the axils of the leaves, as in In- 
dian corn or tobacco. Its object is to prevent exhaustion 
of the plant by the production of needless shoots. 
f — Disbudding is the removal of dormant buds, to prevent 
the development of undesirable shoots. 
g — Ringing is the removal of a narrow belt of bark about 
a branch, to obstruct the current of assimilated food (138). 
h— Thinning fruit is the removal of a part of the fruits 
upon a plant, to permit the remaining ones to attain larger 
size, and to prevent exhaustion of the plant by excessive 
seed production. 
i— Deflowering or defruiting is the removal of flower-buds 
or fruits to prevent exhaustion of the plant (140). 
j— Root pruning is the shortening of the roots of plants 
in the soil, to check growth, or to stimulate the formation 
of branch roots nearer the trunk (105). 
417%. The Season for Pruning. The less exhaustive 
kinds of pruning, as pinching (416a) and disbudding (416/), 
may be performed whenever the necessity for them appears. 
But in perennial plants, severe pruning, as the removal of 
branches of considerable size, is least shocking to the plant 
if performed during the dormant period. As the exposure 
of the unhealed wounds endangers damage from drying, 
and invites infection by injurious fungi (321), severe prun- 
ing is best performed toward the end of the dormant period, 
i.e., in early spring. Pruning should not, however, be done 
at a time when sap flows freely from wounds, as this tends 
to waste reserve food. In plants subject to this occurrence, 
as the maples and grape, pruning is probably best performed 
just before the sap-flowing period. 
