336 



PRUNING, 



part of the plant which remains. The different kinds of pruning may be 

 included under knife-pruning, which is applied to small branches ; lopping, 

 which is applied to large branches ; clipping, which is appKed to small 

 shoots in masses; and disbudding, disleafing, and disbarking, which are 

 applied to buds, leaves, and bark. Girdling and felling may also be included 

 in this section. The instruments necessary for these operations are chiefly 

 the pruning-knife, the bill, the saw, the cutting-shears, and the clipping- 

 shears ; but there are some other instruments, such as the pruning-chisel, 

 the averruncator, the girdling machine, &c., which are occasionally used for 

 peculiar purposes (see figs. 40 to 50, in pages 137 to 142). 



752. The specific principles on which pruning is founded, and its general 

 effects, are these : — The nutriment of plants is absorbed from the soil by their 

 roots, and formed into leaves, branches, flowers, and fruit, by their buds ; by 

 operating on the buds and roots, therefore, we can regulate what is produced 

 by them. If the stem and branches of a plant contain a hundred buds, by 

 removing half of these the shoots or fruits produced by the remainder will be 

 supplied with double their former supply of nourishment ; and if all the buds 

 be removed but one, the whole of the sap sent up by the roots will be modi- 

 fied by that single bud, provided care be taken to remove other buds as 

 they appear. On the other hand, when the whole of the buds of a tree are 

 so abundantly supplied with sap from the roots as to produce chiefly leaves 

 or shoots without blossoms, then by cutting oS^ a portion of the roots the 

 supply of sap is lessened, a moderate degi-ee of vigour is produced, and 

 instead of barren shoots, blossom-buds appear. By these means the growth 

 of plants is controlled by pruning. Pruning has not the power to increase 

 the vigour of an entire plant, because it cannot increase the quantity of food 

 taken up by the roots ; but it can diminish the vigour of the entire tree by 

 cutting off" part of the roots, or it can increase the vigour of particular parts of 

 the tree, by amputating the branches, or taking off" the buds at other parts. 

 Pruning can prevent trees from producing flowers, and hence increase their 

 general vigour and longevity. It can modify the general form of trees as 

 well as increase particular parts of them, and it can add to the vigour of 

 stunted or diseased trees by concentrating their sap, or directing it to a few 

 buds instead of a great many. One of the most useful effects of pruning is 

 to cause the development of dormant or adventitious buds, which is effected 

 by amputating the shoot, branch, or stem, close above any point where visible 

 buds are usually situated, though they may now be wanting there. 



763. In forest-trees pruning is of the greatest use in modifying the 

 quantity of timber produced. Thus by commencing when the tree is 

 quite young, and shortening the side branches and encouraging the leading 

 shoot, the whole of the timber produced is thrown into a main stem ; 

 whereas had no pruning been employed, great part of the wood might have 

 been distributed in branches of little use, excepting as fuel. On the other 

 hand, should crooked timber be desired, pruning by destroying the leading 

 shoot, and encouraging those that have a suitable direction, tends to attain 

 the end in view ; and by the aid of training this end can be completely 

 effected. Trees which are stunted in their growth from being hide-bound 

 (a disease which is brought on by the sudden exposure of trees to the 

 weather after they have been drawn up by shelter, and in the case of 

 young trees by being planted of too large a size in proportion to their roots), 

 may in general be made to shoot vigorously by being cut down or headed-in. 



