98 TRIMMING METHOD OP COUNT DES CARS. 



reserve, «fec. There is nothing less proved than this assertion, and I will add less 

 probable, notwithstanding the statement of Pressler. As all the old trees in the for- 

 ests of Bagny and de Clus bear a number painted upon them, nothing is easier than to 

 ascertain the exact rate of growth since their trimming. From various reasons, such 

 as want of time, &c., some small parts of certain cuttings have been left without 

 trimming, so that excellent means for comparison are at hand, and which I have used, 

 leading to the conclusion that the absorption above mentioned is not shown. If any- 

 thing, I believe the contrary to bo true ; at least this is my own observation. 



They say that a tree thus trimmed dies, after a few years, from the loss of leaves — the 

 principal respiratory organs necessary for its life ; but this is a double error. First. It is 

 by no means proved that the absorbent surface is sensibly diminished by trimming, 

 which suppresses some of the lower branches, but produces a considerable growth in 

 the top of the tree ; so much so that when winter comes and the tree is bare, in a good 

 trimming we are surprised to see the tops of all the oaks presen t a silvery color, indicating 

 anew and vigorous growth. It is hero we see the effect of trimming, as itiseasy toshow, 

 and as I have often pointed out to persons who have visited me, and sometimes to stop 

 their criticism. It was in fact a part of the problem to be solved, to raise the high 

 forest, and at the same time the coppice, so as to let in the air and the light. To pre- 

 tend that a tree dies when once its reserve is lost, seems to me still more difficult to 

 maintain. I have here, and offer to show the proof, that nothing is more contrary to 

 truth. I have some trees trimmed twelve or thirteen years ago, and I challenge any 

 one to show others more healthy or vigorous. I will go farther, and say that the trees 

 not trimmed are less vigorous than those that have been. I claim, in fact, that not 

 only does the trimmed tree not perish, but that, on the contrary, it revives under the 

 operation judiciously doue; that it takes new vigor, its center of activity, instead of 

 being wasted in nouri-hing large useless branches, being thrown into the top, to the 

 great benefit of the owner. 



I have time and again used the word judicious as applied to trimming, for excess is 

 injurious, and abuse may lead to bad results. We should evidently cut from the tree no 

 branches but such as may be shortened without inconvenience or injury to proportion. 

 Surely, when asked to make an old tree that has lost its vigor and has not long to live 

 a new one, by large and repeated wounds, the forester would pause and reflect whether 

 there was much chance of success. He would weigh the reasons for and against ; and 

 this is an affair of the judgment. And furthermore, I wish it well understood that in 

 speaking of trimming, I do not refer to aged trees, but to young and growing trees. 

 With the former, the results do not admit of discussion, and it is vain to seek argu- 

 ments to defend them. I again repeat, and cannot too often, that the operation is a 

 delicate one, and ought not to be trusted to the first comer. 



It requires conscientious and intelligent men who have made themselves masters of 

 the subject. It is better not to trim at all than to trust the work to unskillful or care- 

 less persons. The work, if done, should be well done, and it will be fertile in good 

 results, but otherwise it will end only in mischief. For this reason it is desirable that 

 the school of instruction which the Count des Cars has opeued on his estate at Rozet- 

 Saint-Albiu should be continued, as the true means of forming careful operators, who in 

 turn may instruct others, and thus advance the use of good methods in trimming.' 



I now come to the grand objection, " The u-ood-merchants will not buy of you." This 

 point is so important that it should be answered by facts as definitely as possible, and I 

 would beg leave to cite my own personal observations. All the oaks in our forests, 

 which of right enjoy a good reputation, are squared and worked in the yards upon the 

 premises — none going away in the log. I have thus been able to follow the work done 

 upon many pieces treated by this method, ten, twelve, and fourteen years ago, and I 

 have never seen any serious'inconveuience in my own case ; and as for the merchants, 

 they have bought the timber, all I had to sell, without objections, and at a very good price. 

 I have just sold three lots of wood, amounting to 141,360 francs, from 75.36 hectares; 

 that is to say, at an average of 1,880 francs to the hectare (about |il52 per acre). The 

 lots were 22, 18, and 17 years old respectively, and coppice under large timber. It is 

 not there that they have abused me by running down the price of my wood No, this 

 terrible objection is ho more serious than the rest. The merchants must be supplied, 

 and it is their business to buy to the best advantage, and this has not kept them from 

 taking what suited them, and at a good price, whether trimmed or not. To come to 

 the bottom, and I speak of those who have worked this timber, they know well enough 

 thas this objection amounts to nothing. » » » For a long time I had no imitators. 

 I have now, and among them those who have been the strongest opponents— the kinder 

 class calling it my innovation, and the others my folly. The foresters of the State service 



' M. des Cars in 1875, and again in 1876 and 1877, gave practical courses of instruc- 

 tion upon his method of pruning. They lasted about ten days at a time, the expense 

 bemg 25 francs to pay for board. Three courses were given in the spring. The director- 

 general of forests decided in 1877 to send a number of the candidates for state forest 

 service to learn the process as illustrated by this zealous advocate of trimming. 



