Trees Suitable for Hedgerow and Field Planting 115 



able to those made of iron for fencing hedgerow trees, as 

 they seldom require renewing, for by the time the fence has 

 decayed the trees will, in most cases, be out of harm's 

 way. 



For shelter and shade clumps in fields probably the best 

 trees to use are the oak and sycamore, the value of timber 

 produced being also a valuable asset. 



Pruning and After -Management. For at least the 

 first ten years after planting, careful and regular pruning of 

 hedgerow and field timber should in all cases be attended 

 to, bearing in mind that timely attention in this way will 

 alone obviate the necessity for heavy prunings at any future 

 stage of the tree's growth. 



Early and judicious pruning is necessary to the trees in 

 question ; for it is well known that if branches are allowed 

 to ramify at will, greater injury to the underlying herbage 

 must be committed than where timely pruning and shorten- 

 ing of all straggling branches has been attended to. 



Early summer pruning, say, in the month of June, is to 

 be recommended, as at that time, owing to the active 

 circulation of the sap, the wounds heal up much more 

 quickly than when the operation is performed at any other 

 season of the year. The pruning should be performed 

 by a person who is thoroughly conversant with the work, 

 haphazard cutting and hewing, by an inexperienced hand, 

 and at any season, being injurious. If the young trees 

 have been well attended to in the matter of pruning whilst 

 in the nursery border, little or no attention will afterwards 

 be required at least for a number of years. 



The main object in pruning both hedgerow and field trees 

 is to develop a valuable main stem which is only to diverge 

 into branches at a given height from the ground, and to 

 prevent the overgrowth of straggling branches farther up, 

 so as to maintain a symmetrical and rather fastigiate head. 



