Book II. PRUNING TREES. 



6i9 



timber of the trunk, though in these cases increased in quantity, is rendered knotty and 

 1 otten in quality. 



3988. Pruning frondose or resinous trees is one of the greatest errors in the modern 

 system of forest management. The branches of the different species of pines, and of the 

 cedar of Lebanon, never attain a timber size, if growing in a moderately thick plant- 

 ation ; those of the fir tribe never under any circumstances. Provided pines and cedars, 

 therefore, are planted moderately thick, no loss in point of timber can ever be sustained 

 by omitting altogether to prune them ; and in this respect the fir tribe, whether thick 

 or thin 'on the ground, may be left to themselves. The important question is, how does 

 the rotting off* of the branches affect the timber in the trunk of the tree ? Certainly no 

 pine or fir timber can be sounder or better than that which is brought from the native 

 forests of the north of Europe, and from America, where no pruning is ever given. The 

 rotting off* of the frondose branches, therefore, cannot be injurious in these countries. 

 The next question is, can it be proved to be injurious in this country ? We are not aware 

 that it has, and do not believe that it can. The rotting off* of the branch of a resinous 

 tree is a very different process from the rotting off* of a branch of a ramose-headed tree. 

 This fact may be verified by observing what takes place in pine or fir woods, and by 

 inspecting the interior of foreign pine or fir, cut up into planks. In the rotting off' of 

 side branches of deciduous trees, we find, that the principal part where decay operates, 

 at least in all the soft woods, and even in the oak when it is young, is the heart; but 

 in the rotting off* of the side branches of resinous trees, we shall find them decaying 

 chiefly on the outside, and wearing down the stump of the fallen branch in the form of 

 a cone. On examining the sections of sound foreign deal, we shall find that the knots 

 of the side branches always terminate in cones when the section is made vertically. This 

 is a fact well known to every carpenter ; and it is also known to a great many, that 

 British pine and fir timber that has been pruned, has invariably a rotten space at every 

 knot. The same thing is observable to a certain extent in the natural decay of the side 

 branches of all trees. When the decay is natural, it commences at the circumference, 

 and wears down the stump, till it ends in a small hard cone, which is buried in the 

 increasing circumference of the tree, and is never found injurious to the timber : when 

 the decay is artificial, or in consequence of excessive pruning, that is, suddenly exposing 

 a large section to the action of the atmosphere, the bark protects the circumference, and 

 the decay goes on in the centre, so as to end in forming an inverted cone of rotten 

 matter, which serves as a funnel to conduct moisture to the trunk, and thereby render it 

 rotten also. The conclusion which we draw from these facts is, that the pine and fir 

 tribe should scarcely be pruned at all, and that no branches of ramose trees should be 

 cut off close to the stem of a larger size than what may be healed over in one or at most 

 two seasons. We agree with Cruickshank, therefore, when he says, " It would appear 

 that the pruning of firs [the pine and fir tribe], supposing it harmless, can yet be pro- 

 ductive of no positive good." 



3989. Cruickshank, Pauley, and Sang, agree that the great object of pruning is to protect the leader or 

 main stem or shoot from the rivalship of the side branches, in order that as much of the nourishment 

 drawn from the soil may be employed in the formation of straight timber, and as little in the formation 

 of branches and spray, as is consistent with the economy of vegetation. Without the agency of the 

 leaves, the moisture absorbed from the soil could no more nourish a plant than the food taken into the 

 stomach would nourish an animal without the process of digestion. The branches bearing the leaves are 

 therefore just as necessary to the welfare of the tree as the roots. By taking away too many of the 

 branches, only a small part of the fluid imbibed will be elaborated ; by leaving the branches too thick 

 and crowded, the leaves may be less perfect, and less fit for performing their office, than they otherwise 

 would be. Exposure of a part of the branches to the light and air may therefore be a sufficient reason 

 for thinning them, independently of increasing the trunk. " How," asks Cruickshank, " are we to 

 know the exact number of branches that may be removed with safety in any given circumstances ? Never, 

 it is answered, displace any which have not already got, or seem in immediate danger of getting, the 

 upper hand of the leader. These will be known by their equalling or approaching the leader in size ; or, 

 to speak less ambiguously, by their being of the same, or nearly of the same, girth at the place where 

 they spring from the stem, as the stem itself is at their length from its top." In proceeding according to 

 Jhis plan, the pruner is not to regard, in the smallest degree, the part of the stem on which a shoot is 

 situated. If it is too large, it must be displaced, should it be in the highest part of the tree : if it is not 

 too large, it must remain, though it be close to the ground. 



" But how will this method, the reader maybe ready to ask, ever produce a clean stem ? By repeating 

 the pruning, it is answered, as often as the growth of the branches may make the operation' necessary. 

 Suppose, the tirst time a tree undergoes the process, that the branches removed are a considerable distance 

 from the ground, and that there are several smaller ones left growing farther dow n the stem : these last 

 will gradually increase in size, till they, too, must be lopped oft', and thus the stem will be in the end as 

 effectually cleared, though more gradually, and consistently with the health ot the tree, as by the absurd 

 method represented above. 



" If any branches that were left at a former pruning low on the stem, appear at the next repetition of 

 the process not to have increased in size, we may safely conclude that they ha\ e had no influence on the 

 tree either good or bad ; and as it would be in vain to leave them with the hope that they will any longer 

 assist in the elaboration of the sup, they should be removed, as unsightly objects which it is no longer 

 useful to preserve." (Practical Planter, p. 168.) 



3990. Billington considers the leaves and branches of trees as of the greatest importance : he thinks 

 every timber tree ought to have the trunk clothed with branches throughout; but these branches he 

 would shorten in such a way that they should never engross any material part of the timber of the trie. 

 To accomplish this, it is necessary to commence pruning when the tree? are young, by which means the 

 great bulk of the timber produced will be deposited in the main stem or trunk. This is what he calif 



. entive pruning. {Gard. Hag. vol. vi. A similar system had been recommended by Mr. Bla.kic of 



