We may learn the lesson of how not to prune by looking at this great pine tree torn by the storm ([Fig. 281]).
"But why do we prune?" one asks. Let the horticulturist answer. In a Farmers' Reading-Course lesson on The Care of Trees, Professor Craig says: "Fruit trees must be pruned. If a tree in an open field is allowed to go unpruned, the crown soon becomes a dense mass of twigs and interlacing branches. Such a tree may produce as large a number of apples as a well-pruned, open-headed tree, but will there be the same percentage of merchantable fruit? The chief effort of every plant under natural conditions is expended in ensuring its own reproduction. This is chiefly effected by means of seeds. A small apple may contain as many seeds as a large one and even more. The orchardist wants big fruits, and if they are nearly seedless so much the better."
Fig. 281. A pine tree pruned by the storm.
In a tree top there is a sharp struggle for existence. But few of the twigs which started from last year's buds will reach any considerable size. One needs only to count the dead and the dormant buds on a branch, and the weak, stubby, or decayed side shoots to appreciate this fact. If part of the branches are cut out, this struggle is reduced and energy is saved. By judicious pruning the tree may be shaped to suit the needs of the owner. If a low tree is desired to make fruit-gathering easy pruning keeps the head down. An open, spreading habit may be encouraged by cutting out such branches as tend to grow close to the main trunk. A careful orchardist has an ideal in his mind and knows how to prune to bring the tree up to his standard. He knows the habits of trees of different varieties. He will not prune all alike. He must prune some every year, or the trees will not carry out his plans.
The pruner should not only know why he prunes, but how the work should be done. He should be able to tell why he removes one limb and leaves another. When I look at the trees in parks and along the streets I wonder at the careless pruning. Judging from the way they are treated one would think that a tree could be produced in "a year or two or three at most."
Fig. 282. Close cutting results in prompt healing.
Pruning should not be confined to fruit trees. It may be practiced with profit on all kinds of plants from shade trees to house plants. Pinching off the terminal bud of a young geranium makes the plant branch. Cutting the lower limbs of a young elm makes the tree more stately. Nature may do this, but broken branches leave wounds which the tree cannot heal. Small branches may be cut close with a sharp knife or pruning shears. The tree readily heals these places. It is little short of a crime to break or tear limbs from trees. The injury done to the trees is bad enough; but does not such heedless treatment of living things also have a baneful influence on the mutilator?
