BENEFITS OF PRUNING. 243 



5. There is yet another practice of pruning, which 

 differs from either cutting the branch or disbudding it, 

 and yet answers the purposes of either, which is simply 

 pinching off with the fingers the points of the young 

 shoots when about two-thirds grown. This, of all 

 others, has the best effect of stopping the growth in 

 any direction without incurring evil consequences. It 

 is chiefly performed upon young plants in the nursery, 

 or single ornamental trees in pleasure-grounds, where 

 any special effect is required, but is quite impracti- 

 cable as a general forest operation. 



Any species of pruning necessary to be done to 

 coniferse is attended with less risk or injury to the 

 tree than to hardwoods generally as the wound in- 

 flicted is immediately covered with resin, which soon 

 hardens and completely stops running or bleeding ; 

 and not only is the surface of the wounded part coated 

 over, but the wood to a considerable depth is filled 

 with crystallised resin, to the complete exclusion of air, 

 water, fungi, and rot. Thus nature both compounds 

 and administers her own balm to the wound, thereby 

 dispensing with paint and other artificial appliances. 

 Our own practice in pruning pines or firs, when cutting 

 the branch, is to rub the wound all over with an earthy 

 turf, which not only assists in restoring the cut part to 

 the natural colour of the bark, but also in forming a 

 crustation to the wound by the earth mixing with the 

 resin. 



Of the common species of coniferse, none require or 

 stand pruning so well as the larch and silver fir, as 

 both are apt to produce plurality of leaders, and both 

 submit well to their removal. Indeed, but for the 

 removal of double shoots of the silver fir, it would 

 seldom attain half its value as a timber tree. 



