CHAPTER XIII. 

 PRUNING OF FOREST TREES. 



PRUNING may be considered as a necessary evil 

 arising from defective forestry. It is an operation to 

 be avoided wherever possible, and in plantations 

 which have been well managed it is never necessary 

 after the first few years. In the nursery stage some 

 amount of training is of course required, such as the 

 cutting off of a double leader, the cutting back of too 

 robust laterals, clearing the stem, and so forth. After 

 this, if proper distances are selected, Nature will per- 

 form the task. 



The rule with regard to larch is well known, and 

 the exceptions to the rule are few it is that no knife 

 or sharp instrument of any kind should touch them. 

 The laterals will die off from close contact when their 

 work is done, and may be broken off from time to 

 time by a blunt instrument. If cut off when still 

 green the tree will bleed, and disease, especially 

 canker, will be developed. 



Circumstances may arise when it may be necessary 

 to cut off a limb, and when this is the case care should 

 be taken not to wound the stem ; at the same time 

 the limb should be separated close to the stem, if it is 

 not the portion left will die ; and as the trees grow 



