92 PRUNING OF FOREST TREES. 



vised for cutting by a stroke or by a cutting edge, on the plan of a 

 chisel, or by a drawing cut, as in a bill-book, or between cutting-blades, 

 as in the shears, or by a fine-toothed saw. These, except the first, may 

 sometimes be fastened to long handles to great advantage. 



The following cuts represent some of these implements as given in 

 French works. The serpe is a heavy cutting tool, usually carried in a 

 sheath on the left side, supported by a strap passing over the right 

 shoulder. In using this tool, the blow should be made from below up- 

 ward: 



^f^ M^ 



Pruning-chisel. chisel iind cutting-hook combined. 



It is essentially important that the cutting- 

 shears should have a convex and a concave blade, 



LoDt; handled shears for prun- 

 ing (French pattern;. aud they work to bcst advantage when the branch 



is bent at the moment of cutting, so that the parts may yield as they 

 are separated. The facility with which a branch of green wood an inch 

 and even two inches in diameter may be cut by these shears, when prop- 

 erly managed, is surprising. 



With respect to the season of the year when trimming may be done to 

 best advantage, authorities agree quite generally in designating the be- 

 ginning of autumn, while the days are still pleasant aud long, and the 

 condition of growth is least favorable for reproduction. Many kinds of 

 trees would suffer from the bleeding of sap if trimmed late in winter or 

 in spring, and the growth of sprouts around the wound would be 

 troublesome. The action of frost on a fresh wound, in some cli- 

 mates, tends to cause decay, and indicates the winter season as im- 

 proper for this labor.^ Where oak timber is grown for use in naval 

 architecture, attention is often given to the future uses of the parts, by 

 encouraging the growth of curved limbs, and sometimes by bending and 

 confining certain branches until they will retain the particular shape 

 desired.^ This has been done to some extent in forests owned and man- 

 aged by governments, with the view of supplying the wants of their 

 ship-yards. 



In Europe, the wood obtained from trimming trees, more than covers 



1 The Count des Cars, whose method of i^ruuing -will be more fully noticed on a 

 subsequent page, after mentioning the relative advantages of the different seasons for 

 pruning forest-trees, remarks: "In conclusion, I would say that as for the trees them- 

 selves the season of year is of little consequence ; the main thing is to trim. But I would 

 advise as a general rule, for woods of considerable extent, to do it from autumn to 

 spring, or from September to June, if you do not work through the year. In some 

 mountainous countries, and generally in France, they trim through the winter, aud the 

 work can generally be done except when it rains or snows, or when frosty and icy. At 

 other times the work can always be done to advantage. In the morning, when the 

 branches are slippery, the workmen work from their ladders upon the large branches, 

 rotten siiots, and the like, which require most time, and in warm, pleasant weather, on 

 a calm day, they may climb among the branches of the top." — VElagage des Arbres, p. 82. 



i^Upon this subject, the Manuel de VElageur of M. Hotten and the writings of Du 

 Hamel du Monceau may be consulted with great advantage. It is observed that the 

 oak seldom bears trimming well, and it is laid down by M. Nanquette as a rule, that it 

 should only be done when found necessary to improve its form, or to prevent the in- 

 juries to which it is exposed. Among these is the suppression of gormaud branches 

 after thinning and before the undergrowth has come ui) high enough to shade them 

 out. The lopping off of these branches should be done at the end of the summer, and 

 one or two years after if necessary. — Exploitation, Debit et Estimation dea Bois, pp. 8-10. 



