PREFACE 



TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



It might at first eight appear a needless task to 

 undertake a formal treatise on an art, which al- 

 most all men practise, and profess to understand, 

 were it not for the fact, that so few practise it with 

 success. 



The Removal of Large Trees, for pleasure or 

 use, is an art of great antiquity. As a branch of 

 arboriculture, it is well known to most modern 

 nations: but it has remained still longer than 

 agriculture, without any principles to regulate it, 

 as chemistry and physiology, till of late years, 

 have been confined to the recluse philosopher, 

 and are little studied or understood by the active 

 and the practical. I trust, however, that the time 

 is not far distant, when arboriculture like hus- 



