176 THE PRACTICAL PLANTER. 



how far such bruising is injurious to the tim- 

 ber, and their awn interests, they would not 

 abandon plants not sufficiently advanced in 

 growth, and covered with strong outer bark, 

 so as to be unaffected by such rubbing, to a 

 fate which never fails to produce their ruin. 

 The trifling expence of fencing detached 

 trees, or the value of the herbage in woods, 

 can never counter-balance the loss thus sus- 

 tained. 



For, not one tree in ten, after being rub- 

 bed, (in the rising of the sap, perhaps,) is 

 ever found to flourish, but languish, and 

 finally decay. And how can it be other- 

 wise, without an extraordinary exertion of 

 nature, if, by this rubbing, the outer and 

 inner barks are separated from each other, 

 and also from the wood, and if the sap-ves- 

 sels are distorted and broken ? We might as 

 soon suppose, that although the wrist were 

 bared to the bone, the hand or shoulder 

 would remain unaffected. 



For such wounds, it may be very difficult 

 to prescribe a cure ; but it is in the power of 

 every one to prevent the necessity of it. 



We frequently see trees wantonly bruised 



