PRUNING RESERVE TREES. 



43 



and propped up with a forked stick, will in a short 

 time, the conditions being favorable, become a hand- 

 some specimen. Such operations are important and 

 should not be neglected, because, as has been ex- 

 plained, it is often desirable to increase the capacity 

 of a plantation to produce timber, by increasing the 

 number of reserve trees in it. 



Middle-aged Trees, As has been explained, in 

 woods frequently cut over, the treatment necessary for 

 young reserve trees is often complicated and difficult ; 

 this is not the case with older trees. Trees of the 

 second class constitute the most important part of the 

 forest, and should receive careful pruning. This gen- 

 erally is not difficult, and there are few trees of this 



Fig. 39. Tree forty years 

 old ; first pruning 



Fig. 40. Tree sixty or seventy years 

 old, first pruning (second year). 



class which may not be either entirely restored, or at 

 least very materially improved, if the necessary sup- 



