414 MR. MAIN'S VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. 



of the trunk as a large branch head would do in the same time, yet it gives the 

 wood a gnarled character particularly useful for the naves and fellies of carriage 

 wheels, and other purposes where liability to split would be a defect. 



" Ages had elapsed before forest trees were considered as objects worth the 

 expense of pruning ; but during the last century, the great demands made upon 

 both public and private woods and forests, and the great quantities of defective 

 timber rejected at the dockyards, at last called attention to this neglected branch 

 of rural economy. The defective state of oak timber was attributed to the want 

 of ^pruning. The rotten stumps of branches which had been torn off by the wind, 

 and which in their decay admitted water into the trunk, were said to be the cause 

 of the disaster. Pruning was therefore had recourse to ; but a bad style was 

 introduced, viz. cutting off the lower branches at the distance of two or three feet 

 from the bole. This plan was soon given up ; not only because it disfigured the 

 tree, but also because many of the stumps dying, the same defects followed this 

 practice as were complained of before it was had* recourse to. Close pruning was 

 next recommended ; but with no good result, as has been previously shown. A 

 middle course is now adopted, namely, what is catted foreshortening. This method 

 preserves all the branches, but the lower ones are kept back, by having their 

 leading shoots repeatedly taken off. 



This is particularly suitable for hedge-row timber, as it prevents the trees from 

 overshading the land. It must be observed, however, that though this method 

 gives soundness, it does not produce clearness of grain, which is the grand object 

 of pruning." 



This instance, (and we could easily select many more) will show our 

 readers the useful practical character of the work, and at the same time 

 exemplify the plain easy flow of style which marks everything that Mr. 

 Main writes. Considering the number and good execution of the cuts, and 

 the manner in which the whole is got up, we must pronounce the work 

 to be as cheap as it is excellent. 



