96. DWARFED TREES. [Cuar. VI. 
miniature, which is doubtless the reason of its being 
such a favourite with the Chinese. 
The dwarfed trees of the Chinese and Japanese 
have been noticed by every author who has written 
upon these countries, and all have attempted to 
give some description of the method by which the 
effect is produced. The process is in reality a 
very simple one, and is based upon one of the 
commonest principles of vegetable physiology. We 
all know that any thing which retards in any way 
the free circulation of the sap, also prevents to a 
certain extent the formation of wood and leaves. 
This may be done by grafting, by confining the 
roots, withholding water, bending the branches, or 
in a hundred other ways which all proceed upon 
the same principle. This principle is perfectly un- 
derstood by the Chinese, and they make nature sub- 
servient to this particular whim of theirs. We are 
told that the first part of the process is to select the 
very smallest seeds from the smallest plants, which 
is not at all unlikely, but I cannot speak to the 
fact from my own,observation. I have, however, 
often seen Chinese gardeners selecting suckers and 
plants for this purpose from the other plants which 
were growing in their garden. Stunted varieties 
were generally chosen, particularly if they had the 
side branches opposite or regular, for much depends 
upon this; a one-sided dwarf tree is of no value in 
the eyes of the Chinese. The main stem was then 
in most cases twisted in a zigzag form, which 
process checked the flow of the sap, and at the 
