98 



THE planter's GUIDE. 



Branches, besides giving to trees both beauty and 

 nourishment, serve to balance them properly, and by 

 throwing themselves out on every side, aid the trees in 

 withstanding the wind, in whichever way it may blow. 

 Most trees, if not prevented by adverse circumstances, 

 have at first a leading shoot, which tends perpendicularly 

 upwards, and is invested with a pre-eminence over the 

 other branches. Having reached the height which the 

 soil and situation admit, the central shoot loses its pre- 

 eminence. The sap required to give it superior vigour 

 seems then to fail, and it gradually disappears among the 

 other shoots. Meanwhile, the plastic powers of the trees 

 soon multiply the branches of the top, which last gradu- 

 ally obtains a rounded form, and becomes what the 

 nurserymen call " clump-headed." But this sort of head, 

 so desirable for picturesque piu-poses, may also be pro- 

 cured by judicious treatment, as will be seen in the sequel — 

 and with sufficient room for expansion during the youth- 

 ful age of the tree, and while the central shoot yet main- 

 tains its pre-eminence and the power of reaching its 

 greatest height. 



It is pleasing to observe, in this place, how beauty and 

 utility coincide in the same object. In proportion as the 

 tree has room to expand on every side, (agreeably to the 

 foregoing account of the action and reaction of the difife- 

 rent parts on one another,) it must be with an equal and 

 corresponding expansion of the roots. As the exposure 

 is increased, we uniformly perceive that both branches 

 and roots multiply. Towards the quarter most exposed, 

 the branches are always more contracted in their growth, 

 but in general more thickly set with spray ; plainly for 

 the purpose of furnishing a closer cover of leaves for the 

 protection of the sap-vessels, as they lie immediately 

 under the bark. This, however, is by no means incon- 



