PRUNING OF FOREST TREES. 



93 



the cost, and sometimes pays a notable profit — the product being cord- 

 wood, very superior charcoal-wood, and fagots, besides (in case of oak) 

 bark used in tanning. The amount of this income, of course, depends 

 upon nearness to market and cost of labor and transportation. In the 

 early years it is nothing, but the rate gains rapidly in the later years. 



In some cases (more particularly with poplars and willows) the tops 

 are cut off entirely, with the view of obtaining lower and more sightly 

 shade, or sometimes for the fuel thus obtained. Such trees are called 

 "Pollards," and, if symmetry and beauty are sought, the branches should 

 be cut, as shown in the second of these engravings, a little above and not 

 at the main division of the branches. Such trees will tend to make a 

 graceful head instead of a clumsy and distorted one. The subject will 

 be better understood by reference to the engravings. Where a pop- 

 lar, for example, has been 



cut off below the division 



of the first branches, the 



young shoots can only form 



around the margin of the 



section, and the middle part 



usually becomes rotten. But 



if cut higher up, the growth 



becomes symmetrical, and 



the trunk remains sound. 



Pollards— right method. 



It is a good rule in forestry, never to allow the use of climbing-spnrs 

 on account of the injury that they do to the trees, and that in using a 

 ladder, the top should always be fastened by a strap, to prevent displace- 

 ment by falling branches. 



METHOD OF TRIMMING RECOMMENDED BY THE COUNT DES CARS. 



Some fifty years since, the Viscount do Courval applied in France a 

 method of trimming, which he had devised, to the forests upon his own 

 extensive domain of Pinon (Aisne), and afterward published an inter- 

 esting little work upon the subject.^ Within a few years the Count Des 

 Cars has published a small volume, embracing the results of ample ex- 

 perience upon the same general principles, which he insists upon calling 

 the method of M. de Courval. This work has gone through several 

 editions, and has been received with much favor.^ 



Stated concisely, this method consists in suppressing "gormand" 

 branches, and cutting off dead limbs, as well as those that grow too ver- 

 tical or too low, the section being always made close to the irunli. He 

 also shortens living branches, to secure symmetrical and profitable 

 growth and to favor certain parts that should be encouraged — clears 

 out decayed spots down to the living part, and covers all wounds with 

 a liberal coat of coal-tar. 



The true secret of success, according to M. Des Cars, is to cut close to 

 the trunk (except where a branch is shortened at the end), never leaving 

 .a projecting part; such pi-ojection could scarcely be expected to grow 

 over, without greatly disfiguring the tree and injuring the wood for 



* Taille ei Conduite des Arbres forestiers et aufres Arbres de grande Dimension, on Noue- 

 velle M6thod do traitement des arbres k baute tige, etc., Paris, 1861. 



* VElagage des Arbres ; trait6 pratique de I'art de diriger les arbres forestiers et 

 d'alignement, d'activer leur croissance et d'augmenter leur valeur. Par le comte Des 

 Cars. Paris (7th ed.), 1870, p. 170. 



M. de Courval died 1871. See Revue desEaux Forets, 1872, p. 19. 



