2^4 



often form separate heads. To these we 

 may add the circumstance of their sap- 

 vessels being so large, that the ascent of 

 the sap is not so much obstructed by the 

 branches. — If the first pruning took place 

 when the plants were about eight feet 

 high, it might then be necessary to dis- 

 place two, or at most three tiers of the 

 lower branches ; and two years further, 

 two sets more of the same description : 

 after which, intervals of three years might 

 elapse between the prunings ; never dis- 

 placing more than two tiers at once, ex- 

 cept more should prove dead.* 



* In the " Transactions of the Society for the En- 

 couragement of Arts, SicJ* Vol. XXIV. p. 68, we have 

 a paper on the advantages and method of ^^ Pruning 

 Fir Trees, ^"^ by ^^ Mr, Salmon, ' surveyor and wood- 

 agent to his Grace the Duke of Bedford, which clearly 

 evinces the propriety both of pruning and cutting 

 close. The opinion of a person so intimately ac- 

 quainted with the application of timber, cannot fail 

 to be conclusive on these points. Still I think his 

 theory, both with regard to the quantity of tiers of 

 branches to be taken off at once, and the periods to 



