584 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



and it will naturally incline more to the crook ; at the same time clearing away any 

 other tree on the crooked side, that may be apt, with the wind, to whip the side of the 

 tree to which it inclines to crook. Also taking away such trees of less value as may 

 prevent it from spreading out to the one side more than to the other." He adds, " I 

 have myself tried the experiment with several oak trees at about twelve feet high, that 

 were a little inclined to crook, and that had also a main branch inclined to a horizontal 

 position. In the course of less than twenty years, I had the pleasure of seeing some of 

 these very trees grow so very crooked that the branch would work in with the main 

 stem or body of the tree, to a complete knee, or square, which is tlie most valuable of 

 all trees; and, as ten' trees of crooked oak are required for one straight one, it is 

 of the most essential consequence to have crooked oak trees ; and besides, an oak tree, 

 properly crooked, that will answer for a large knee, (say the main branch, to be fit to 

 work in with the body or trunk of the tree without much waste of woodj, is nearly 

 double in value to the same number of straight trees ; and, indeed, knees of oak are 

 extremely scarce, and difficult to be got," 



3702. Fontey " knows of no way by which bends of tolerable scantlings (knees ex- 

 cepted) can be produced with certainty and little trouble, but from a side branch 

 kept in a bent position by the branches of another tree or trees overhanging its stem." 

 {Forest Pruner, 174.) 



3703. Coppice woods, in so far as grown for poles or bark, require pruning on the 

 same principle as timber trees, in order to modify the ligneous matter into stem, and 

 produce clean bark. In as far as they are grown for fence wood, fuel, or besom spray, 

 no pruning is required. 



3704. Osier holts require the laterals to be pinched off the shoots intended for hoops ; 

 those of the basket^maker seldom produce any. The stools, also, require to be kept free 

 from dead wood, and stinted knotty protuberances. 



3705. Hedges require side pruning, or switching, from their first planting, so as gra- 

 dually to mould them into " the wedge shape, tapering from bottom to top on both sides 

 equally, till they meet in a point at the top. Two feet at bottom is a sufficient breadth 

 for a five feet hedge f a greater or less height should have the bottom wider or nar- 

 rower, accordingly. In dressing young hedges, either of the deciduous or evergreen 

 kinds, the sides only should be cut till the hedge arrive at the proposed height, unless 

 it be necessary, for the sake of shelter, to cut their tops over, in order to make the 

 hedges thicker of branches. Such cutting of the upright shoots, however, is not of 

 any great use in this respect ; because every hawthorn hedge sends out a number of 

 side shoots, which, if encouraged, by keeping the top wedge-shaped as above, will make 

 it abundantly thick." (Sang, 447.) In pruning hedges, some use shears; but the 

 hedge-bill is the most proper instrument, producing a smooth unfractured section, not 

 so apt to throw out a number of small useless shoots as generally follow the bruised cut 

 of the shears. 



3706. Hedge-row trees require to be pruned to a tall, clean, erect stems, as at once 

 producing more timber, and doing least injury to the ground under their drip and 

 shade. 



3707. Trees in strips for skelter, or screens for concealment, ought to be furnished 

 with branches from the bottom upwards ; unless undergrowth supply this deficiency. 

 Where this is not the case, care should be had that the trees be pruned into conical 

 shapes, so as that the lower branches may be as little as possible excluded from the influ- 

 ence of the weather by the upper ones. 



3708. Trees for shade, where shelter from winds is not wanting, should be pruned to 

 ample spreading heads with naked stems ; the stems should be of such a height that the 

 sun's rays, at midday, in midsummer, may not fall within some yards of the base of the 

 trunk ; thus leaving under the trees, as well as on its shady side, a space for the repose of 

 men or cattle. 



SuBSECT. 4. Of Thinning Young Plantations. 



3709. The properly thinning out of plantations, Sang observes, "is a matter of the 

 first importance in their culture. However much attention be paid to the article of 

 pruning, if the plantation be left too thick, it will be inevitably ruined. A circulation 

 of air, neither too great nor small, is essential to the welfare of the whole. This should 

 not be wanting at any period of the growth of the plantation ; but in cases where it has been 

 prevented by neglect, it should not be admitted all at once, or suddenly. Opening a 

 plantation too much at once, is a sure way to destroy its health and vigor. In thinning, 

 the consideration which should, in all cases, predominate, is to cut for the good of tlie 

 timber left, disregarding the value of the thinnings. For, if we have it in our choice to 

 leave a good, and take away a bad plant or kind, and if it be necessary that one of the 

 two should fall, the only question should be, by leaving which of them shall we do most 

 justice to the laudable intention of raising excellent and full sized timber for the benefit 



