PRUNING FLOWERING TREES 31 



which is not grown so much as it deserves to be, 

 should be cut back annually or biennially, the young 

 wood being better coloured and bearing larger leaves 

 than the old. 



Pyrus. — The wild Pears should be spurred in the 

 same manner as adopted for fruiting Pears, though 

 not quite so hard. The wild Crab-apples, such as 

 p. baccata, P. floribunda, P. spectabilis, &c., should be 

 cut back every spring until they have formed well- 

 balanced heads. Afterwards an annual thinning and 

 a shortening of the longest shoots after flowering is 

 sufficient. The remaining sections of Pyrus merely 

 require an occasional thinning. P. japonica should 

 be kept spurred in, whether growing on a wall or in 

 the open, and in the latter case should not be allowed 

 to become a mass of weakly shoots. 



Rhamnus. — These should be thinned out if be- 

 coming too thick, but, as a rule, they require very 

 little pruning. 



Rhododendron (including Azalea). — Remove all 

 seed-pods immediately the flowers are over, and any 

 plants that are in a sickly condition should be cut 

 down at the same time. By doing this a season or 

 two of flower is lost, but it is practically the only 

 means of bringing a weakly plant back to health 

 again. 



Rhodotypus. — Cut away old wood, and encourage 

 the strongest of the young growths. 



Rhus. — Keep these well thinned out, and destroy 

 all suckers that appear, unless wanted for stocks. 

 Gloves should always be worn when handling any 



