70 Wind Damage 



dormant buds are apt to develop ; this is especially the case with 

 oak, the resulting shoots being popularly known as " breast-wood," 

 or "water-shoots." Soft broad-leaved trees, such as willow, etc., 

 are apt to decay before the wound is healed. 



The best time for pruning is when the sap is dormant. Spring 

 is the worst time, as the sap pressure is greatest then, and extensive 

 " bleeding " results. All limbs pruned should be removed w r ith a 

 clean cut, close to the stem or trunk, so as to allow the bark to heal 

 over. The cut surface should receive a covering of Stockholm tar, 

 or lead paint, which acts as an antiseptic. If a portion only of a 

 branch is removed, the cut should be made immediately above a bud or 

 small branch, in order that the sap may continue to be raised through 

 the remaining part. If this point is not observed, the stump left will 

 die and decay, ultimately spoiling the timber, if not killing the tree. 



Wind Damage. 



Some idea of the damage caused by wind may be gathered 

 from the fact that, in the year 1893, no less than 1,850,000 trees, 

 valued at 282,263, were blown down in Perthshire and 

 Forfarshire. 



The best class of timber, possessing long clean boles, is 

 particularly liable to such damage, owing to the fact that the wind 

 is able to obtain greater leverage over the crown, for which reason 

 the danger is greater when the end of the rotation is near, and when 

 the trees are quite mature. Hedgerow timber, which has been 

 growing in an isolated position all its life, is more immune from 

 damage, in spite of the proportionately greater surface of crown 

 exposed to the wind. 



The damage due to wind may consist of: 



1. The complete blowing down of trees, which interrupts the 

 working plans where such exist, and which, in addition, causes a 

 direct financial loss, owing to the actual damage to the timber. 



2. The loosening of the root-system of plantations in the 

 pole stage, and the lessening of the intimate contact of the roots 

 with the soil. 



