90 A MANUAL OF FORESTRY. 



and bent down backward, so that the plants are gently 

 lifted up and gradually separated from the soil. 



Another method is to insert two spades or forks 

 from opposite sides, in a slanting direction, so that they 

 meet, or nearly so, underneath the plant ; both spades 

 are then bent back and the plant lifted. 



Sometimes hoes, ordinary or pronged, are used, but 

 they are inferior to spades or forks for lifting plants. 



Pulling up plants injures the roots and should be 

 avoided. 



10. Pruning Plants. 



As a general rule plants should not be pruned unless 

 it is absolutely necessary. Every cut produces a wound, 

 exposing the plant to disease, which may ultimately 

 render it unfit for the purpose for which it has been 

 grown. Eecent researches have shown that the un- 

 healthy condition of timber trees may be due to spores 

 of fungi entering its tissues through wounds received at 

 a very early age. 



Where woods are grown for fuel, or treated under a 

 short rotation, the above consideration is of compara- 

 tively small importance ; in the case of timber planta- 

 tions, however, which require long periods of time to 

 mature, the forester will do well to pause before he 

 proceeds to prune his plants. Healthy plants of mode- 

 rate size can be produced at such a low cost, that it is 

 far preferable to throw away badly shaped plants than 

 to prune them and risk the introduction of disease. In 

 the case, therefore, of small and moderate sized plants 

 pruning should be avoided. Such plants should be so 



