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CHAPTER XL 



EULES FOE PEUNING. 



1. PEUNING may be regarded as the work which 

 thinning, from some reason, has not overtaken. 



2. Pruning is the work of some form of neglect, 

 and that which renders it necessary is the circum- 

 stance that thinning was done at the wrong time. 



3. Pruning is the work of art, and therefore should 

 be done so as to conceal art. 



4. No pruning should be done that can be dis- 

 pensed with. It is either of great benefit or of much 

 evil, for there is no neutral position for pruning. 



5. The manner in which pruning is done indicates 

 the taste, skill, and knowledge of forestry better than 

 any other branch of the art. 



6. No one should be allowed to prune, in the 

 general and comprehensive sense, unless thoroughly 

 conversant with the laws of physiology. 



7. It is only saplings that pruning can truly bene- 

 fit, and when properly done at that early stage of 

 growth, it may do much real and permanent good. 



8. Pruning dead wood off pine and fir trees re- 

 quires very little artistic taste or knowledge, and is 

 the simplest form of pruning. 



9. Pruning or lightening branches overhanging 



