(308 Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



(juickly as possible. Pruning slioulcl also be done in tbe late autumn, 

 when there is least chance of a flow of sap. 



Thinnimu. 



A properly planted forest ought to i*equire little attention till it is 

 five years old, and even then may not have made sufficient growth to 

 require any assistance. But as age increases so will the struggle for 

 existence become more severe. It will be found that some trees 

 have grown faster than their neighbors, whilst others have been so 

 far left behind that they have been killed. If left to nature the 

 result would be fewer trees to the acre of good marketable quality, 

 as those trees that topped and overshadowed their neighbors would 

 not only spoil the growth of the trees they outstripped, but would, to 

 a certain extent, tend to lessen their own, by growing large branchy 

 crowns at the expense of their stems ; or they would continue to grow 

 together, and be so drawn up that their stems would be too weak to 

 support their crowns, and they would bend over and prove useless for 

 marketable purposes. Hence, man's assistance at the right time 

 checks this evil, and encourages a greater volume of valuable timber. 

 Let us consider now a thinning is necessary, the forest being 10 

 years old, the plants having been planted 4 feet x 4 feet, and the 

 species being eucalyptus. If the growth has been rapid Ive shall find 

 the following : — 



1. Dead trees, killed for want of light or other causes. 



2. Suppressed trees, hopelessly left behind, and which will 

 eventually be killed, their crowns being completely covered by those 

 of their neighbors, 



3. Dominated trees that still fight for a share of light, and may 

 have a leading shoot fully exposed, but, owing to their stronger 

 brethren, are practically suppressed. 



4. Dominating trees, the strong groAvers that are in full enjoyment 

 of light and vigorous growth. 



The first thing to do is to remove the dead trees, after that the 

 suppressed ones must go, it is useless to leave them as they are bound 

 to die, and we then come to the dominated. In a Victorian eucalyptus 

 forest most of these could be cut out, as owing to the rapidity of 

 growth of the species any small gaps made in the leaf canopy would 

 be quickly filled up. Still it is never advisable to remove all as their 

 presence tends to be beneficial to their neighbors in many ways, the chief 

 being their protection to the ground. It is essential to a young 

 forest to have the ground shaded from the direct sun's rays, so as to 

 keep it cool and prevent the loss of humus. Therefore, the removal 

 of the overhead cover will admit too much light and assist weeds to 

 grow, and also, probably, result in the standing trees throwing out 

 branches on their previously clean boles. Again, if strong light 

 reaches the ground it will induce a regrowth from the stools of the 

 cut out trees, and so frustrate the object of the thinning. Another 

 thing to be remembered is that on flat land, with good soil, a severe 



