40 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING 



for existence does not always result from competition 

 among fellows, hut may arise from the crowding of other 

 plants (Figs. IS, 25). 



The three strong branches are less than 4 feet from the 

 ground, l;)ut other old cherry trees standing near it have 

 no branches within 15 and 20 feet of the ground. They, 

 no doubt, branched low down, as this one, but the 

 branches eventually died in the struggle, and we, there- 

 fore, ha\-e reason to conclude that of all the branches on 

 this little tree only the terminal one can long survive. 

 One has only to look on the forest floor to see how freely 

 trees shed their twigs. The trunk of a tree, then, is the 

 remainder in a long problem of subtraction. 



So every tree is a record of defeats and disasters in 

 order that the stronger parts may live. It is safe to con- 

 clude that if nature is such a searching and undogmatic 

 pruner, man may prune, too. Those persons who declaim 

 that pruning is unnatural should be taken into a neglected 

 orchard and be made to see what has transpired in the 

 tree tops. 



41. Is artificial pruning excessive? — I may be met here 

 with the criticism that artificial pruning is excessive; 

 but I answer that it is not different in kind from natural 

 pruning, and that it is fully warranted by the different 

 objects in view. The ultimate object of nature is the pro- 

 duction of seeds, and the larger number of A'iable seeds 

 produced the better. Alan covets the fleshy portion of the 

 fruit, or some other character which is of minor impor- 

 tance to the plant. He must, therefore, thin the plant 

 rigorously — reduce the struggle for existence — in order 

 that size and quality may come before number. He 

 simply deflects the energy into another channel! 



42. The argument from plant physiology is equally im- 

 portant. It is a common assertion that cutting off a limb 

 is an injury because it removes a given amount of tissue 

 in the production of which the plant expended effort ; that 

 is, that pruning exhausts the plant. This statement as- 



