4i4 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING 



straight, it must be tied up to a cane or stake, but do not let this be done with string or 

 wire, unless the bark be fully protected by cloth or felt, otherwise the attachment, if only 

 of string, will cut clean through the bark as the tree swells, and literally strangle it. The 

 proper attachment for the support is bass, for by the time the leader has grown vertical 

 the bass rots and the stick falls down of itself, thus avoiding the necessity of going up with a 

 ladder to remove it. Where a tree shows a disinclination to make a central lead, the lateral 

 boughs into which the strength of the tree is going should be pruned hard back, cutting 

 inwards in pyramidal fashion from the base up to the central lead which you want to assist. 

 Do not be disturbed if the tree thus treated presents a painfully formal appearance 



suggestive of Noah's Ark, 

 and do not pay any attention 

 to the criticisms or ridicule of 

 those who have made no 

 study of the subject. One 

 year's growth will much 

 lessen the formality, and in two 

 or three years you will pro- 

 bably hear no remarks except 

 " what a well-grown little 

 tree!" Where the central 

 lead is hopelessly bad, or 

 where the natural habit of 

 the tree is to form a bushy 

 growth, it is often better not 

 to attempt to preserve a weak 

 leader which is out of the 

 centre, but to cut it off and 

 make a mop head ; nor is this 

 to be regretted, as the tree 

 so treated will give a pleasant 

 change of form if standing 

 among tall and fastH 7 iated 

 neighbours. If you desire to 

 remove the lower branches 

 of a young tree, either to show the beauty of the stem, as in the case of a Birch, or to 

 prevent its injuring adjoining shrubs, which is often necessary, do not take off too many 

 boughs at a time, otherwise you will weaken the tree's constitution and make its leader 

 so long, thin, and whippy that it will be liable to be readily broken by wind. Content 

 yourself, therefore, with clearing from 6in. to ift. of the stem each year until the requisite 

 height be obtained. 



Now let me say something about PRUNING generally, apart from the formation of a 

 central lead ; the best time for this operation is the late spring, just before the sap rises, but 

 small boughs not thicker than the little finger can be taken off at any time of year. Trees 

 vary very much in the degree to which they submit to the knife. Some seem actually 

 stimulated and rendered more vigorous by it, and among these are to be numbered all kinds 

 of Crataegus, Yew, and Holly, while the gum-producing trees, such as Cherry, Plum, Peach, 

 and Almond, are very intolerant of the process, and it is better in their case not to cut the hard 

 wood at all, but merely to shorten the growth of the current year where requisite. In the case 

 of a Birch, never remove large boughs after the sap is up, otherwise it will bleed to death, 

 though no bad effects will follow if the tree be in a dormant state. If a plant be delicate and 

 liable to be injured by cold, do not prune it except in the spring. 1 remember killing some 



A WEEPING BEECH IN A L DEN II AM GA A DENS. 



