Plants, if above two years old (see [foot note] next page), exceeding 2½ feet in height at the end of the season (and all plants of any age will) may be pruned down to 20 inches, but the thick wood must be pruned down to varying heights several inches lower.
Small plants must naturally be more lightly pruned.
The best plan is, I think, to have two gangs:
The first to go ahead and cut out the thick wood (here judgment is necessary, so let them be the best men) to varying heights, from about 11 to 18 inches. The second gang to follow, each with a rod 20 inches long, to cut down all the light wood left to that level.
All plants, how low or how young soever they may be, must be pruned somewhat.[27] The lower their stature and the less their age the less pruning they require.
Of the two extremes, at least with the Tea plant, it is probably better to over than to under-prune. The treatment of the plants, with reference to the leaf to be taken in the spring, must be a good deal regulated by the way, or rather the extent, to which they have been pruned. On this point see page [103].
The cost of pruning depends on whether it is high or low, and whether the plants are large, middling, or small. The greatest cost is about Rs. 6, the least about Rs. 3 per acre.
Let all prunings be buried between the lines of plants, if possible, before the leaves have even withered. They make capital manure, but much of the virtue escapes if they are allowed to lie on the ground any time before they are buried.