94 TRIMMINQ METHOD OF COUNT DES CARS. 



timber. Kature has provided, in a living tree, for the repair of wounds 

 by the deposit of new wood from around the edges, which gradually 

 closes over the injury, and, when wholly united, the annual deposit of 

 wood goes on regularly, as if nothing had occurred to prevent it. 



Effects of good trimming and of neglect 



In the pine tribe there is a tendency to the accumulation of resin in 

 the dry branch, which prevents decay, but leads to an accumulation of 

 wood around the dead branch, which injuries its quality for future use, 

 and it is chiefly in this class, that the loose knots so injurious to lumber 

 are found. 



At the World's Fair in London, in 1862 ; at the Agricultural Expo- 

 sition at Paris, in 1861; and in the Universal Exposition at Paris, 1867, 

 numerous specimens were exhibited, showing the very best success in 

 these operations, in the form of planks so cut as to show in the section 

 the extent of injury and the completeness of cure; and in 1867 both 

 MM. de Courval and Des Cars were awarded prizes.^ 



As to the question whether trimming should be practiced upon trees 

 of all kinds, in all conditions and exposures, the author under notice 

 appears to except only such as grow upon arid soil and in unfavorable 

 localities, and which produce nothing but fire-wood, and says: 



The coal-tar recommended should be of the thickest kind, and kei)t, when used, in 

 a bucket, hung to the upper rounds of the ladder. It should be applied with a 

 brush, and cold, escei^fc in freezing weather, when it may be gently warmed. It is 

 claimed that it has remarkable conservative properties, not penetrating more than 

 common paint, and yet with one coat it closes all the vessels of the exposed wood, 

 thus effectually preventing the decay that otherwise would take jilace from the action 

 of the elements. Its odor is offensive to insects, and its complete adhesion prevents 

 them from attacking the wood. In 1863, the authorities charged with the care of the 

 city parks of Paris, after long-continued and expensive trials of other materials, came 

 to the conclusion that there was nothing better than this cheap and simple substance 

 for covering wounds in trees, and have since used it by i)reference. 



For a long period various materials have been used for covering the injured parts of 

 trees, and from time immemorial a mixture of earth and cow-dung was thought best 

 by tho.'-e less informed, but it is needless to insist upon its insufficiency. They next 

 had recourse to various salves used for grafting, composed of rosin, wax, and tallow, 

 and which must be applied hot; but these, besides b.ing expensive, would not some- 

 times unite with the wood, and as soon as a ring of new wood appeared aroitnd the 

 edges, they would be lifted up more or less, leaving a naked place, which then gen- 

 erally became a shelter for intects. The use of coal-tar had been practiced by M. de 

 Courval many years before it was first employed in Paris in 1863. 



1 As for the mode of payment, where forest trimming is made a regular employment 

 in great forests, our author remarks that they should not be hired by the job, much 

 less should they be paid out of the wood cut off. It is absolutely necessary to pay 

 them by the day, allowing them, perhaps as a gratuity, the dead wood as an induce- 

 ment for leaving none upon the tree; or, still l>ettfcr, to hire them by the year, paying 

 rather more thau common hand laborers, and allowing them to earn higher rates by 

 working for farmers in haying and harvesting. He had learned to discard the profes- 

 sional wood-cutter; who, being accustomed to work without immediate control, is 

 impatient under direction, and had come to prefer men that had beeh in the military 

 service, and who had thereby learned habits of obedience and regularity, without 

 having to unlearn the routine ways of wrong habits. 



