24 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



infect and weaken the whole tree. It should rather be taken 

 off at the distance of a foot or more from the stem, just above a 

 vigorous shoot, which shall be left to grow towards a space in 

 which it will find a plentiful supply of air and light. The 

 shoot thus left will sustain the life of the shortened branch, and 

 will continue in action the root by which it had been nour- 

 ished.* 



The mode of thinning and pruning, will be governed in some 

 measure by the end in view. If the object is to produce a full 

 grown tree, in its true character, developing itself according to 

 its natural tendencies, all or most of the branches will be left, 

 and care be taken to give them space ; and, as every branch 

 swells the trunk, a similar course will be pursued, where it is 

 an object to get the greatest possible amount of wood. In both 

 cases, those stems and branches only will be removed, which 

 interfere with the rest. A crowded growth will be allowed, 

 and the lower lateral branches will be removed, where it is 

 desirable to get a lofty trunk and head. 



In many hard wood trees, shoots spring vigorously from the 

 stool or stump, after the trunk is cut down ; and this mode of 

 reproduction is chiefly relied upon in most of the woodlands in 

 the State. It becomes, then, of great importance to ascertain 

 what are the best modes of felling, whether by thinning out the 

 forest or cutting it entirely down ; in what period a wood, so cut 

 down, will renew itself, so as to be profitably cut again; at 

 what age of the tree the stump will shoot most vigorously; 

 at what age, if any, trees cease to shoot from the stool ; what 

 trees will not thus shoot; what season of the year is found 

 best for felling a forest, when the object is to have it renew 

 itself speedily; and what season, when the object is to de- 

 stroy the forest. In 1838, I addressed circulars to gentlemen 

 interested in the forests, in all parts of the State, asking these 

 questions and others. In answer, I received many communi- 

 cations, from which I now proceed to extract some of the valu- 



* See a " Treatise on the Management and Cultivation of Forest Trees. By- 

 John Smith, Gardener and Forester to the Earl of Bute." The chapters on thin- 

 ning and pruning are interesting, as giving illustrations, by a practical man, of 

 scientific principles which he had learnt only from observation. 



