224 THE PRINCIPLES OF HANDLING WOODLANDS 



volves an investment whose return appears in the in- 

 creased value of the final product. It is practised only 

 when stands are intensively managed, and even then the 

 work is confined to a limited number of the most valuable 

 and promising trees in the stand. Usually not over 100 

 trees per acre are pruned, and these are selected individ- 

 uals which are of good form, thrifty, and most likely to 

 be the choicest trees in the final stand. 



The aim is to clear off the branches for a distance of 

 about 16 or 18 feet, enough to include one saw-log. This 

 is about as high as it is practicable to prune, even with 

 the help of ladders and long-handled saws and hooks. 



The period for pruning is usually when the stand is 

 from 20 to 40 years old. In most cases only dead branches 

 are cut, though a live branch may be cut here and there. 

 The work is not undertaken until the branches are dead 

 for a distance of from 16 to 20 feet above the ground. 

 Some of the limbs can be knocked off by a blow from a 

 stick, or pulled off with a hook. The larger limbs have 

 to be sawed off. Care is taken to make the cut close to 

 the trunk. 



The cost of pruning conifers from 20 to 40 years old 

 is about 2 cents a tree. 



Forest pruning will not be extensively practised in 

 this country for some time. For the most part, it will 

 be confined to comparatively small tracts which are inten- 

 sively managed, and to valuable individual trees here and 

 there in the forest. 



