Pruning And Shaping Evergreens

Uncu it was thought that evergreens must uot be pruueel ut all ; they would bec-oiDü diseas.id, or bleed to deuth. 13ut at length it was uoticed that wben accident pruncd tlieui, thoy generally crjdured tho operation, and vvoru often improved by it. And so, in one way aud another we havo learaod tbat conifera inay be cut aud shaped as well as aoy other treet. In traimplauting aa evergreen, if tbe roota have beou mutilated in takiug them up, wo üo t:ot hesitate to pruno the branches, just like tbosé of deciduous trees. If largo bauches, Beud taking off, apply shellac varnisb to the vvouuds. tíüiuetimes a conifer loses a sido bracch. It is barder to üll up eucb a gap than it would be in a decidumi tree. But by drnwing the adjacent litubs iround and tying them together over the. gap, they wili eoon üonceal It. SometimeH a tice, like tho Nor way Spruce and Silver Fir, loses its leader. If let alou'e, péfhüpa two or ttree dcw leaders wiü start out, but by cutting back all save oüo, this will soou shoot up straight, and in a few years the ■whületree will bs déuaer and more pyrametrical thau bofore the injury. Indeed, Bome of cur most ekiilful nurseryuitm now praotice takiag out the leadera of their Norways eeveral tirrses during their growth, iu order to make thnrn biishy and riobly feathered to tbegrttn '. If any evergreen inclines to grow spmdling and meagre, it abluid ba cut back ngain aud agaia uatil it cuines to it8 genses, and grows ae it ought. It is eurpriaiug to how sniall a space nn evergreen cao te ü nfiucd by pruning. We Rave eeen tbe lordly pine, whioh natnral'y aspires to thö height of a huncited feut, kept down fur half a lifo time below six feet. The training was beguu when it was on'y a foot high, aud by two annual prunings it wa-s wrought iuto a globe of wavy foliago, ehapd liko n smiill hay-oock, and looked brigbt aud silvery, aud as oonleuted as a Lilac bufh near by. Tbe Norway, the native Black Spruue, and tho BalsaDi, Fir may be trained in the saiuo way, ov cut iuto pyramids. ür olbor uhapes. Much more tractable still are Ihs variotis Arbor Vitsffs. ai.d tué 'ííeinlock. Tho Junipers require less pruuiog than any other evergreen, but evoii tlioy are iniproved by a ittiü shearing wlien growiug in clay Boilil. Evergreen bedges should be pruued like otlier liedgces wlien growiug. But when they liave nttuiued their hight, the maiu pruniüg should be given in early surmner, just after the tirst growth has been made, This treatinent aüown a slight alter-growth in the summer, and the plaiits are kept in good condition. When a hedgo loses much of 't0 ianer foliuge, it is well, for a few years, to cut dinctly iuto llie planta, taking oul every altérnate branch, making indeed, tin; surfaee nore rffggöd for a wbile, but givins; tho bedgü finally iiuit vigor and beauty.-