APPLICATION OF THE SYSTEM. 37 



The importance of observing the directions which 

 have been given, however trivial or unimportant they 

 may seem, will be apparent when it is understood 

 that the entire success of the operations of pruning, 

 and of the future production of timber, depends on 

 the proper application of these rules. 



It should always be borne in mind that a cut 

 perfectly smooth, and as closely following the line of 

 the trunk as circumstances will permit, is soon 

 recovered with healthy straight-grained wood. In 

 this connection it is well to quote from de Courval, 

 who speaks with the authority of experience, and 

 who has shown with many varieties of trees the cor- 

 rectness of his statements. " A casual examination," 

 he says, " will show that between the surface, 

 which has been cut smooth and treated with coal- 

 tar, and the new tissues which soon cover it, there 

 is only the thinnest crack or fissure analogous to 

 the natural cracks or openings which always appear 

 in wood in seasoning, and which, as is well known, 

 do not diminish its strength, elasticity, or value for 

 all industrial purposes." 



In the preceding pages, the general rules which 

 should be followed in pruning forest trees have 

 been given ; the special methods applicable to each 

 of the four classes in which trees have been placed 

 according to their age will now be briefly explained. 



