24 



TREE PRUNING. 



feet of ladders intended for this purpose should be 

 pointed to prevent them from slipping. This is a good 

 plan, although hardly sufficient to prevent accident, 

 and the top of the ladder should be fastened with a 

 strong rope to the trunk of the tree to prevent it from 

 being thrown down by falling branches (Fig. 20). 

 Hooks or Spurs. Except in very exceptional cases, 

 or where very large trees are 

 to be operated on, the climb- 

 ing spurs sometimes used by 

 professional pruners should 

 not be allowed. These men, 

 paid according to the number 

 of trees operated on or the 

 quantity of wood cut, have 

 no idea in pruning be- 

 yond cutting the largest 

 , amount of .wood in the short- 

 es t time. Climbing spurs 

 should never be used by good workmen even, in 

 pruning young trees, whose bark is not sufficiently 

 thick to resist the wounds caused by the sharp iron 

 teeth of this tool. Wounds made in this way en- 

 courage the growth of injurious side shoots On the 

 trunk, and leave defects in the wood which never 

 disappear, and diminish its value. 



The future value of a tree depends upon the man- 

 ner in which the operation of pruning has been per- 

 formed ; and the persons to whom this work is 

 intrusted should fully understand its importance. 



the paii of coai-tar. 



