290 PRUNING. 



such an acute angle as to form between the surfaces of 

 the bark a false connection, and such as will ultimately 

 end in the two separating and doing irreparable damage 

 to the tree. 



I have indicated in a very general way the kinds of 

 preferences which different classes of individuals have 

 for different species and descriptions of trees, but we 

 have yet to notice that while one person has a special 

 preference for one species and character of tree, it by 

 no means follows that he has no appreciation of other 

 trees. There are individual exceptions to this rule, 

 but the general rule undoubtedly is, that while one 

 individual has a particular species or character of tree 

 he admires and prefers to all others, he yet appreciates 

 and finds delight in many others. A well-balanced 

 mind is usually so constructed as to appreciate any 

 natural product, and specially all kinds and descriptions 

 of trees ; while there are enthusiasts who go heart and 

 mind into certain special subjects, and such men not 

 unfrequently make discoveries in certain directions 

 which less enthusiastic men would overlook, from the 

 simple circumstance that the latter neither look long 

 enough nor intensely enough in the one direction. 

 Each individual tree should be grown in every way 

 suited to its character, and specially in accordance 

 with its natural habits. No person, for example, 

 would think it judicious to prune a Picea pinsapo in 

 a manner similar to the Cupressus Lamhertiana, or treat 

 an araucaria as he would a Wellingtonia gigantea. 

 One thing, perhaps, more than any other, has to be 

 considered in regard to ornamental tree pruning — 

 namely, the exposure in which they are grown. We 

 have found it quite necessary to shorten the extrem- 

 ities of the branches of the Abies Douglasii in freely 



