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Lopping should be gradual. The first step is to re- 

 duce every plant to one stem, and when it is about four feet 

 high, it may be gently treated by having all branches too 

 near the ground removed with a sharp pruning knife. Once 

 it is run up, the operation becomes easier j but heavy lopping 

 like heavy pruning, is decidedly bad. Every thing should 

 be done by degrees, and the truth of tne old saying " done 

 in haste and repented of at leisure" is here fully exempli- 

 fied. A young tree recklessly lopped, has its growth check- 

 ed at once, and like a coffee tree, immediately throws out 

 a profusion of suckers, becomes sickly, and m addition to 

 this ; the leverage caused by the foliage is frequently so great, 

 that the sapling is twisted and broken by the wind. In 

 lopping, a very sharp curcuttee should be used > and the 

 <;ooly standing at the root of the sapling should remove the 

 branch with one stroke, the cut being made on the side of 

 the branch, from within, outwards. The removal of a large 

 branch always injures a tree- therefore lopping should be 

 early attended to. Where a thick branch has to be removed, 

 it is better to shorten it back, and in the following season 

 remove it altogether with a saw. A Grecian saw is the best, 

 : as the teeth are arranged so as to cut when the instrument. 

 is drawn towards the operator. If the coolies have to 

 climb the trees, Bamboo ladders should be used; which 

 merely consist of a single Bamboo lopped so as to 

 leave pegs about six inches long on the alternate system. 

 In the absence of such> the coolies are fond of cutting 

 notches in the trees, which is a most objectionable operation 

 and should never be allowed. 



In removing a branch from above ; an incision is first 

 made underneath, and then cuts should be made on each 

 side ; and the moment any bending is noticed, if a single 

 sharp cut be applied on the upper side, the bough will fall 

 clear of the tree without drawing or skinning the bark. 

 Each lopper should be provided with a belt like a Toddy 



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