Pruning for Form 105 
In the development from youth to old age there can be 
recognized at least four stages of development, in which 
the form varies. 
In 1864 a Frenchman, M. .\. Des Cars, published a book- 
let on the methods of pruning trees,' which is still essentially 
correct. It was written for forest- 
ers, with a view to secure the pro- 
duction of good timber rather 
than for use in ornamental trees. 
The author develops what he Fis. 37-—“Little Giant” 
; pruner and saw combined. 
considers the proper form for 
trees, especially oak trees, in the different stages of their 
development. He also devises what he calls a dendro- 
scope, a piece of thin cardboard, in which a hole has 
been cut of the shape which the outline of the tree crown 
is to assume. A fine wire, stretched from base to top of the 
whole, serves as a guide in adjusting the dendroscope oppo- 
site the bole of the tree in front of the eye. By this little 
device the pruner is aided in determining what branches 
to remove in order to secure the desired symmetrical form. 
While we would hardly recommend any strict adherence to 
the directions given on this point by Des Cars, we reproduce 
for their suggestiveness the summary of his conclusions, 
together with the dendroscope and the examples of how to 
shape a given tree. ‘The use of this device is self-evident. 
1. Younc TREE. The length of the branchless trunk 
should equal one-third of the entire height of the tree. The 
head should be elongated, ovoid in form, with the center of 
gravity sufficiently low to keep the tree upright. The lower 
branches, shortened to prevent excessive development of the 
1A Treatise on Pruning Forest and Ornamental Trees, by A. Des Cars. 
Translated from the Seventh French Edition, with an Introduction by 
Chas. S. Sargent, Boston, 1884. 
