“Well, I’ll tell you. He has got his bit of ground ready, and is waiting for the seed or young plant to be popped in. Then it begins to grow at once. Don’t you see this; he has half-learned what he wants to know in the desire he feels. That desire is satisfied when he is told, and the chances are that he never forgets. Now you say to me—What is the good of pruning or cutting this plum-tree? I’ll tell you.”
We were standing in front of the big red brick wall one bright winter’s day, for the time had gone by very quickly. Old Brownsmith had a sharp knife in his hand, and I was holding the whetstone and a thin-bladed saw that he used to cut through the thicker branches.
“Now look here, Grant. Here’s this plum-tree, and if you look at it you will see that there are two kinds of wood in it.”
“Two kinds of wood, sir?”
“Yes. Can’t you tell the difference?”
“No, sir; only that some of the shoots are big and strong, and some are little and twiggy.”
“Exactly: that is the difference, my lad. Well, can you see any more difference in the shoots?”
I looked for some moments, and then replied:
“Yes; these big shoots are long and smooth and straight, and the little twiggy ones are all over sharp points.”
“Then as there is too much wood there, which had we better cut out. What should you do?”