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CHAPTER V. 



GOOD EFFECTS OF THINNING. 



THINNING larch plantations is conducted in some re- 

 spects the same as Scots fir, but in other respects 

 considerably different. In some situations thinning 

 should be done very early, as in ravines and sheltered 

 places, while in exposures it should often be consider- 

 ably delayed. In sheltered places, wherein the top 

 growth is rapid and luxuriant, often over 30 inches 

 annually in such situations thinning should be done 

 before the side branches touch each other. When this 

 is not attended to, the trees become disproportionably 

 tall in comparison with their thickness. We have 

 uniformly recommended, as a reliable and safe guide 

 to thinning, that the tree be maintained as many 

 inches in girth near the ground as it is feet in height, 

 that is to say, when 1 5 feet high, it should girth 1 5 

 inches; when 30 feet high, it should girth 2J feet; 

 and when 6 feet high, 6 inches in girth : and these 

 proportions should be duly maintained during the 

 whole period of thinning. In larch culture, it is found, 

 the tendency of the tree is to grow disproportion- 

 ately tall in comparison to its girth ; and where this 

 disposition in any case appears, thinning should at 

 once be resorted to. Any strained effort at perfect 



