284 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 



below the crown, which intercept the passage of 

 the sap in its upward flow, thus causing ' stag- 

 headedness' and decay of the top of the crown. 

 Where resorted to, such pruning should take 

 place early in autumn, as soon as convenient 

 after the fall of the leaf, when the trees 

 contain their minimum amount of sap and 

 moisture. 



Apart from such partial remedy, nothing can 

 be done to correct the faults of uneconomic 

 treatment. The only complete cure is to utilise 

 over-mature and excessively-branching standards 

 as early as may be convenient, and to replace 

 them by the retention of a better class of over- 

 wood. And that takes time. This is also the 

 only way of providing anything like a regular 

 distribution of standards over the area, and a 

 normal gradation of age-classes among the over- 

 wood ; because it enables the young * stores/ 

 4 heirs/ * saplings/ or whatever their local name 

 may be, to be more or less regularly distributed 

 over each fall, in greater or less number, accord- 

 ing to the quality of the soil. And in course 

 of time it ultimately provides the regular grada- 

 tion of standards in classes varying from each 



