BENEFITS OF PRUNING. 251 



right and proper means. The stem, as I have repeat- 

 edly stated, should, in the ease of a well-grown tree, 

 girth as many inches round as it stands feet in height. 

 When this rule is attended to, all under and over 

 pruning will be prevented ; and the same rule is 

 applicable to all species of forest-trees grown for profit 

 as a crop. Tastes and fashions are applied to trees as 

 well as to persons ; and it ought to be the aim of all 

 who in any way influence fashion, to do what they can 

 to make her servant to, not mistress over, nature and 

 her laws. 



Pruning is a subject of such momentous import- 

 ance that it cannot well be over-estimated, nor can 

 too much be said about it, or it be too deeply impressed 

 upon the minds of every one concerned. Like any 

 other art, science, or branch of education, when one 

 department is thoroughly mastered, it opens up and 

 clears the way for others. Knowledge, no less than 

 ignorance, is contagious ; hence, when one is truly 

 espoused, others join company and follow in the 

 wake. 



