228 Method of Dwarfing Trees and Shrubs. 



pretty effectually cramped. No radicle can descend, conse- 

 quently it is only those which run towards the ends, or upwards, 

 that can serve to convey nourishment properly, and it is easy 

 to regulate those by cutting, burning, &c. so as to cramp the 

 growth at pleasure. Every succeeding formation of leaves 

 becomes more and more stunted, the buds and. radicles be- 

 come diminished in the same proportion, till at length that 

 balance between the roots and leaves is obtained which suits 

 the character of the dwarf required. In some trees, this is 

 accomplished in two or three years, but in others it requires 

 at least twenty years. 



On a review of this process a striking analogy will be per- 

 ceived to exist between this management of plants, and a 

 somewhat similar treatment of animals when young, since 

 defective nourishment, digestion, and assimilation, stunt the 

 growth of both, of which the Chinese have taken advantage 

 with a horrible ingenuity.* 



The Chinese say that all trees and shrubs may be made 

 from boughs, and that these, under proper management, may 



* I have Dr. Morrisons authority for stating that some Chinese feel gratified 

 in expending considerable sums of money in giving those poor tortured trees free- 

 dom ; a sufficient proof that they possess the kindlier affections, and that they 

 believe that vegetables are endowed with sensation, as well as animals. But truth 

 requires that the reverse of this picture should be stated from the same high au- 

 thority. Young children are sometimes kidnapped for the purpose of making 

 them also a Koo-Shoo. Their limbs, trunk, and head are moulded into an infinite 

 variety of strange unnatural forms, and their eyes are not unfrequently put out. 

 It is shocking to humanity to add, that such horrible practices are patronized in 

 the Heavenly Empire, for a good livelihood is gained by the exhibition of a human 

 Kw-Shoo. 



