GENERAL CULTURE 195 
top pruning as already directed should be per- 
formed; and immediate replanting is of course 
most desirable. If this is not possible for any 
reason, put the plant in a shady place out of the 
wind and cover the roots with enough earth to 
prevent their drying out. Thus “ heeled in ” 
a thing may lay for days without suffering. 
Pruning 
Only generalities may be given here, for this 
is a subject which grows somewhat complicated 
as one goes into its special phases; hence it re- 
quires special treatment. Probably the one 
thing which needs saying most emphatically 
and reiterating again and again with regard to 
pruning is, do not prune at all unless you know 
exactly why you are doing it and exactly how 
to do it for that particular purpose. Nature 
herself will attend to a good bit of this work 
and with far better effect than man, misguided. 
Very little pruning should ever be necessary 
in the case of ordinary trees and shrubs. 
Leave them to grow in their own way, remov- 
ing only dead or injured wood in the spring, 
when failure to make leaf growth reveals this 
to you; thus the true character and beauty of 
each kind of tree or shrub will develop un- 
