Pruning for Form 103 
shape, but accidents, like breakages of branches, disturb 
the normal development and call for the correcting hand of 
man. Some species, as, for example, the Silver Maple, the 
Sycamore, and poplars, have a straggling habit, developing 
so irregularly, that their long branches are apt to be broken 
by the winds. By judicious pruning this habit can be 
counteracted, and the crown be made more compact and 
windtresistant. 
Too often old neglected trees have lost their beauty by 
neglect in earlier pruning, and it may tax the ingenuity 
and good judgment of the tree doctor to restore them to 
desirable shape in order to save the time which their 
replacement would require. Usually in such cases gencral 
repairing and invigorating of the dilapidated cripples are 
also involved. 
As regards the form in which to trim a tree, it is neces- 
sary to know, not only that the various species exhibit vari- 
ous forms typical of themselves, 
but also that their form varies 
with age, the young tree being 
different in form from the mid- F16 35 —Plain one edged 
dle-aged, and this again differing “ue 
from the old tree. It is, therefore, impossible to give general 
rules; only study and observation in the field can develop the 
eye which recognizes typical form. 
There are, however, two very clearly distinguishable 
types, namely, that of the conifers, and that of most of the 
broad-leaved trees. 
The conifer type is characterized by the pyramidal shape 
of the crown, the main axis developing more rapidly than 
the branches, and these besetting the bole to its base. ‘This 
beautifully symmetrical pyramid, which is especially typical 
of spruces and firs, lasts from twenty to forty years and 
