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X XI V. Upon the Priming and M anagement of Transplanted 

 Standard Trees. By Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. 

 F. R. S. $c. President. 



Read June 2, 1822. 



When a tree is transplanted, it loses, almost necessarily, 

 a considerable part of its roots : and as these, in every healthy 

 subject, are nicely proportioned to the branches, the advan- 

 tages of retrenching the latter are obvious, and well known 

 to every gardener. But relatively to the mode of retrenching 

 the branches, and the extent of retrenchment, that is benefi- 

 cial, there is much discordance in the opinions and practice of 

 different gardeners ; and' often still more between the garde- 

 ner and his employer ; the latter wishing to preserve the 

 bearing branches, that he may, at an early period, obtain a 

 crop of fruit, and the gardener wishing to head down the tree, 

 that he may see it shoot with vigour. Neither mode of prac- 

 tice is, I think, in its full extent, quite eligible in the greater 

 number of cases ; the one being too prejudicial to the growth 

 of the tree, by occasioning the production prematurely, of an 

 useless profusion of blossoms ; and the other being, even when 

 most successful, attended with an unnecessary loss of time: 

 and I have found, in very extensive experience, that trans- 

 planted trees generally succeed permanently best, and as 

 standards take the best forms, when their lateral branches, 

 instead of being suffered to retain their whole length, or 

 pruned off closely, are all shortened to the length of a few 



