xviii The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



sacrificed to the branches, we rarely get such magnificent boles as these trees are 

 capable of producing when planted under more natural conditions. 



Another point too often neglected by English arboriculturists is early and regular 

 pruning, which, unless they are planted in close order, is necessary in the case of 

 most broad-leaved and some coniferous trees, until they have attained a considerable 

 size and age. Though the lower branches should not be cut off close to the trunk 

 before it is thick enough to support a well-shaped crown, yet the earlier it is done 

 after the tree has become established, the quicker and better is the wound healed ; 

 and the careful planter must continually watch that no branches are allowed to attain 

 undue proportions at the expense of the trunk. With some trees pruning and 

 shortening of large branches is best done in early spring before the sap rises ; with 

 others, in July or August, when the tree is in vigorous growth ; but though art may 

 do a great deal to form a well-shaped tree, yet unless the soil is deep enough and 

 fertile enough to keep it in health, stunted and stag-headed trees will be the result. 



The influence of grass on the roots of trees is a subject upon which a great 

 deal of light has been thrown by the experiments carried on by the Duke of Bedford 

 and Mr. Spencer Pickering.' Though opinions differ on the extent to which their 

 conclusions apply to trees universally, and how far they are due to particular soils, 

 yet there can be no doubt that as a general rule the soil should be kept free from 

 grass for a distance of about three feet all round the trunk for some years at least. 

 On the peculiar soil of Colesborne I have found that some trees, among which Scots 

 and Corsican Pine are conspicuous, do not suffer when planted in a thick sward, and 

 actually seem to grow faster and to be more healthy. I am inclined to believe that 

 wherever the soil is deficient in fertility, grass over the roots of trees, though it may 

 check their growth in dry seasons, is better in most cases than a bare soil which has 

 been impoverished by cultivation. Good soil will overcome almost all other obstacles 

 to the growth of trees, and this fact leads me to speak of another question which 

 planters and foresters often insuflficiently consider. 



Is it more economical and profitable to plant land, which, like many of the natural 

 woods and plantations in Great Britain, has been allowed to remain as woodland only 

 because it was not thought good enough to cultivate ; or to plant land which is pro- 

 ducing more or less profitable crops ? We rarely see the dimensions that trees are 

 capable of attaining in Great Britain, except on the estates of families which for 

 centuries have been rich enough to plant good land, and to leave trees standing after 

 they have attained maturity ; and though the largest trees are not always the most 

 valuable, yet the highest quality of timber, which usually fetches a higher price per 

 foot, is rarely produced on inferior land, whilst the quantity per acre that can be 

 grown in a short time is the most important factor in the profit or loss of planting. 



In forestry as in agriculture the best land is the most profitable and therefore 

 the cheapest. But when I speak of good land I do not mean that the best land for 

 farming is the best for trees, because trees root so much more deeply than agricul- 

 tural plants that they can penetrate and feed where the roots of plants cannot reach ; 

 and on steep hill-sides especially, trees seem to thrive wherever the rock is sufifi- 



> Thirteenth Report of the Wobum Experimental Fruit Farm, London, 191 1. See also Ninth Report, 1908. 



