On the Planting of Forest-Trees. 289 



of the dismemberment; and at the end of a given number of 

 years, though it will have a cleaner stem, it will be found to con- 

 tain less timber, both in its trunk and branches, than that which 

 was left to grow without restriction. There can be no mistake in 

 this view of the subject ; and yet an eminent author, who wrote 

 ten years after the publication of Mr. Knight's admirable papers 

 on the Physiology of Plants, asserts that " pruning not only im- 

 proves the form, but increases the size and general weight of a 

 tree :" an assertion which more correct observation would doubt- 

 less have prevented him from making. 



If the object be to produce beautiful trees, either singly or in 

 groups, for the purpose of ornament or picturesque effect. Nature 

 must be left to her own course, and we can only aid her by such 

 small service as that of carefully removing a broken branch. But 

 as the principal object in the cultivation of forest-trees is to pro- 

 duce upon a given space of ground not the most wood merely, nor 

 ornamental effect, but the greatest quantity of clean, straight, 

 valuable timber, we must make a compromise with nature, and 

 recourse must be had for that purpose to judicious and timely 

 pruning where trees stand alone, as in coppices and hedgerows, 

 and thinning and pruning in plantations and where trees rise thick 

 together, as in natural forests. 



Though most planters and writers agree upon the necessity of 

 thinning and pruning, great difference has prevailed as to the ex- 

 tent to which it should be carried, and no reasonable rule has 

 been laid down which may serve even as a general guide to the 

 practical forester. Pruning must be necessarily confined to the 

 early stages of the growth of trees ; for however desirable it may 

 be to have clean timber, it is no less desirable to have it sound 

 also ; but if large branches be removed from a tree, however skil- 

 fully it be performed, an injurious scar will appear when the 

 timber is cut open for use. To avoid this evil, no branch should 

 be removed which would expose a surface of more than 2 J or 

 3 inches in diameter : a wound of the size mentioned will soon 

 be healed over, and will scarcely present a visible scar when the 

 tree is cut open only a few years afterwards. In pruning trees 

 that stand alone, the first attention should be directed to the top, 

 and if there be a formidable rival to the leading shoot, it must be 

 checked by taking off its head ; and if there be any strong branch 

 which is producing a powerful diversion from the main stem, it 

 should also be checked in the same way. The lowest of the side 

 branches may then be removed close to the bole or stem, which is 

 most conveniently done with a small saw ; the wound should then 

 be carefully pared over with a knife, so as to leave the lips of the 

 cut quite smooth. This operation may be repeated every two or 

 three years, always taking care that the head shall occupy full 



