250 



to one shoot, as soon as o?ie is supposed 

 capable of attracting all the sap. 



"When intended for timber, the best 

 general method is, undoubtedly, to divert 

 the whole sap of the stool into one tree, 

 as soon as possible; because, as before 

 intimated, the value of the article is in- 

 creased in proportion to its thickness, till it 

 gets to a tolerable scantling. At p. 166— 

 170, has been shewn, how pruning im- 

 proves the general weight of trees ; — re- 

 moving rivals from the same stool, will 

 operate, in that respect, the same as 

 pruning; and, therefore, the arguments 

 and proofs brought forward upon that 

 occasion, exactly apply in the present. 



Unfortunately, however, the woodman's 

 system, in this, as in most other matters 

 essential to the free growth of the article, 

 is defective. "When he finds a large, 

 healthy stool, being well aware one or 



