61 



2. PINCHING OUT. 



It is remarkable that trees which branch out earliest 

 also increase in diameter soonest. It is easy to see 

 in a young plant, by the thickness of the trunk, if 

 a tree has branched out or no. This observation has 

 prompted experimenting with topping. Topping with 

 a knife is not advisable ; the buds which appear after 

 the cutting off of the upper part of the trunk, on the 

 old wood, are not attached strongly enough to the trunk, 

 and often tear off. Therefore, " nail-pruning", or " thumb- 

 nailing", is applied; the point of growth of the trunk is 

 pinched away, with the fingers; generally the trunk is 

 left to grow 15 feet high, and then the top is pinched out; 

 the stem being is sufficiently thin |and flexible to be bent 

 downwards. This pinching out has as a result that 

 branches grow out from the upper buds, extending 

 themselves as though to continue the trunk ; in this 

 manner, a fuller and broader crown is obtained than 

 with trees which are not topped (see fig. 24). 



There is no doubt that such trees increase in girth 

 more rapidly than trees which are not topped; the 

 difference is remarkable. When by some accidental 

 cause, a tree in a plantation is topped, or some rows 

 are pinched out, as an experiment, the trees show up 

 at once remarkably, by their greater girth. 



Nevertheless, this topping sytem has been abandoned, 

 and I did not see it practised on any of the estates 

 which I visited. The reason of abstention is, that these 

 topped trees produce an excessive number of branches 

 from the trunk and the crown becomes too heavy for 

 the it. During the first three or four years, after the 



