56 FORESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 
14 feet long, with its base stripped of bark and tarred, 
driven well into the ground. The tree, covered with a strip 
of tarred felting, is tied to the stake in two or three places, 
with 4 inch Manila rope slipped through a piece of india- 
rubber hose, about 8 or 9 inches long. This prevents the 
stem of the tree from coming in contact with the stake. 
The ties attaching the trees to the stakes must be loosened 
in time, so that they may not eat into the bark. 
Pruning is necessary, but only in order to take off the 
lower branches, so as to allow unimpeded the passage of 
pedestrians and vehicles; and also in rare cases, as in narrow 
streets, where trees must be kept in a limited space. Prun- 
ing is expensive ; and the performance of a surgical operation 
on a tree is no more to its good than the same on an 
animal. The appearance of trees in towns, not only in 
streets, but in parks, with their trunks marked with great 
scars or wounds, is very distressing, and is, moreover, the 
cause in many cases of disease and death. The spectacle 
of untrained men going about hacking trees in towns is a 
painful but common one. The whole art of pruning is to 
cut away in time the branches that must be removed, that 
is when they are small, say less than 4 inch in diameter ; 
and to cut only a little at a time, applying a dressing of 
coal tar to the freshly cut scar. Trees require all their 
branches in order to grow vigorously, and, left to themselves, 
they generally make a finer bole than if maltreated. All 
the so-called systems of pruning trees are to be avoided. 
If you ever prune, prune so that the tree looks as if it had 
not been pruned at all. Dead wood, of course, can be removed. 
People will be more interested in the preservation of 
trees if they know something about them. It is advisable 
then to place one or two inscriptions in each street, giving 
the date of planting and the names of the species used. 
The preservation of trees is as important as their plant- 
ing; and in every large town it is advisable to form a 
committee to look after the trees. Sometimes a beautiful 
tree is felled or sound branches are lopped off, and the 
timber subsequently sold by untrustworthy borough servants. 
