HOW WOUNDS HEAL 



129 



kill the bud. The amount of wood to leave will depend 

 somewhat upon the species and perhaps the variety of 

 the plant being operated upon, those with open, porous 

 wood, like the grape and the peach, being cut with longer 

 stubs than those with dense wood, like apple and pear. 



When pruning small branches or seedlings in which 

 buds or grafts have been inserted it is often advisable to 

 leave fairly long 

 stubs and to make 

 second cuts nearer 

 to the unions some 

 weeks later after the 

 tissues have knit 

 firmly. In such cases 

 the stubs should be 

 pared down smooth- 

 ly and close to the 

 cion growths. 



(d) In the forma- 

 tion of tops in 

 young trees, the 

 heads may be 

 spread somewhat 

 by pruning to buds 

 on the outside of 

 the twigs ; they 

 may be brought 

 somewhat closer 

 together by prun- 

 ing to inside buds; 

 raised somewhat by 

 pruning to buds on 

 the upper sides and 

 lowered by pruning 

 to buds on the lower 

 sides. Thus erect growers, such as Northern Spy apple 



FIG. 88— CUTS MADE HEADING-IN TWIGS 

 A, cut correctly made not too close but with 

 proper slant from the bud. B, cut far too long. 

 Too large surface exposed. Likely to dry badlv. 

 C, too large an amount of wood left abo\e bud. 

 Will dry and die back to bud and must be cut a 

 second time. D, cut too close to bud. Sure to 

 dry out and kill bud. Will die back to next bud. 



