8.S 



PRINCirr^ES AND TRACTICE OF PRUNING 



the root area be also reduced by root pruning. In other 

 words, removal of the top upsets the balance Ijctween r ot 

 anil top. The result is that the remaining parts make greater 

 vegetative growth than they nurnially would make and often 

 water sprouts (Fig. (i-J), and suckers may be developed in 

 greater or lesser number and size. Hence gardeners have 

 furmulated the rule that weak-growing shrubs should have 

 their tops pruned severely, but strong ones onl)- lightl_\'. 

 Should severe pruning become necessary to correct the fi rm 



Fl'-,. 64— ONE OF THE WORST FOES 

 OF TREES IS THE "LINE MAN" 



:TC.. fiS— TREE'S ATTEMPT TO 

 OFFSET BUTCHERING 



or to train a |)iant, undcr-stimulatiim of the top may be 

 a\'iiided \)V doing the work ])ieccmeal, say a quarter to a 

 third at a time, with an interval of a week to perhajis se\'eral 

 months jjetween, dc|)ending upon the character of the plant 

 Ijcing pruned — herbaceous ones, such as tomatoes grown 

 under glass, requiring very frequent, perhaps even semi- 

 weekd\' removal of small quantities of foliage, and trees de- 

 manding not mure than one or at most two |M-unings a year. 



84. Injurious effects of pruning on tlie growth of tree trunks are 

 ri'p'irlcil Ijy ricrnian iiu'tstigaturs wlio say the average thickness of 



