PRUNING OF FOEEST -TREES. 



89 



From time immemorial, it has been known that good results will often 

 be obtained without the slightest intervention of man, as we observe in 

 our native forests ; but it is equally certain that, by judicious trimming 

 and timely attention to defects in growth, a much more uniform and 

 profitable result may be obtained and needless losses avoided. 



This attention is more especially desirable in the case of ornamental 

 planting, in which generally more time and expense can be afforded 

 than in the larger way, where whole forests require attention, and the 

 cost of labor is an item that must be carefully regulated, so as to be 

 kept within the limits allowable in the general result. 



Nothing is more common than to find in forest trees great injuries to 

 timber in the form of rotten cavities, often extending to the root, which 

 began by the breaking or cutting off of large branches, or that have 

 been caused by a dead branch remahiing on until it finally drops, leav- 

 ing a pipe for admitting the rains into the heart of the tree, and finally 

 destroying it altogether. The stages of this process are well exhibited 

 in the following illustrations : 



M first. In 5 years. In 10 ye%rs. In 15 years. 



Stagoa of decay in a braacli of Oak partly left in trimming. 



The loose knots in sawed timber, afford familiar examples of the in- 

 juries that may follow when limbs remain upon the tree after they are 

 dead, and wherever woodlands receive proper attention these cases re- 

 quire the notice of the forester^ and become real subjects of surgery. 



The principal objectof forestry being to raise the largest amount of 

 wood of the greatest value upon a given area of land, it becomes im- 

 portant not only to give attention to such accidents and injuries as may 

 happen, but to prevent at times a tendency to vicious growth, or the 

 formation of large branches too near the ground, and especially in trees 

 planted for ornament, where symmetry of form is an object worthy of 

 attention, and may be secured by a little timely care. In young trees 

 the growth may sometimes be thrown into particular branches by cutting 

 oft' the ends of others, still leaving the principal foliage for the use of 

 the tree, and without sensibly checking its general 

 growth. When large branches are cut or sawed first on 

 the upper side, they are apt to tear down the bark and 

 wood on the under side when they fall. The cutting 

 should iherefore be commenced below, as 

 shown in the annexed cut, in which the 

 incision A is first made, and afterward 

 that at B. When finished, the incision 

 ■Afc-is;tii,ita should be perfectly smooth, and as ver- 

 tical as may be. Such a SUrtaCe will heal ^ ^ell-he.Ied and a 



over much better than a rough one, and badiy-iioaied wound in 

 the soundness of the wood at the place of "™^®'^- 

 amputation may be secured by a coat of paint or coal-tar, until the injury 

 is repaired. It is true that the new wood will not unite with the old, but 



