197 



be preferable to forty; — the former would 

 contain about seventy trees upon an acre, 

 the latter only twenty-seven. 



Perhaps, nothing relating to pruning 

 requires so much experience, as the ma- 

 nagement of thinning, or distances ; — and 

 it is among the advantages which planta- 

 tions have over other situations, that, 

 where it is judiciously attended to, much 

 of the work of the pruner is superseded. 

 If the plants stand too thick, they will 

 rise quickly, but slender; if too thin, 

 they will rise but slowly, and produce 

 spreading, bushy heads; these are the 

 extremes of the case, and all our art lies 

 in steering between them, 



In judging wh^^t strength is proper for 

 3^oung trees, regard must be had to situ- 

 ations. In some they are liable to be 

 much agitated by the winds ; in others, 

 very little. In a thick plantation, they 

 may always be trained much weaker than 



