Canadian Forestry Journal, Fcbruarij, 1917 



945 



Improving the Farmer's Trees 



How Straggling Growth can be Easily Developed Into Market- 

 able Timber by Careful Pruning. 



By B. R. Morton, B. Sc. F., Dominion Forestry Branch, Ottawa 



On many farms, especially in the 

 more outlying agricultural districts 

 of Eastern Canada, are to be found 

 patches of uncultivated clearings. 

 These are areas which are too stony 

 or shallow for plowing or they are 

 situated on hillsides too steep to be 

 profitably worked. They have, there 

 fore, been lying abandoned or ne- 

 glected for many years and a growth 

 of young pine, spruce, balsam, fir or 

 cedar has sprung up on them. This 

 new growth has originated from wind- 

 blown seed of neighboring stands or 

 from a few trees which have escaped 

 the axe during the clearings. This 

 growth should be encouraged since 

 it occupies land unsuited for cul- 

 tivating. In places the growth may 

 be quite dense and if permitted to 

 come ahead will soon be sufficiently 

 crowded to produce desirable clear 

 straight timber. On other areas, 

 however, especially on those at some 

 distance from the seed trees, the 

 growth will be found very open and 

 scattered. The trees are so far apart 

 that their branches will never meet 

 to form a close stand or at least not 

 until the trees have reached a large 

 size. 



Planting Recommended. 



Where the trees are still small, 

 two or three feet high, the proper 

 density for producing good material 

 may be obtained by artificial seeding 

 or planting among them. Or it may 

 happen that an exceptionally good 

 seed crop will bring about a thicken- 

 ing of the new stand. Seed years are 

 uncertain, however, and planting is 

 recommended except under very fa- 

 vorable circumstances. 



In ma,ny such open stands, how- 



ever, the trees have reached the 

 height of 10 to 15 feet or more and 

 are now too far advanced to be over- 

 taken and effectively crowded by any 

 later growth that may come in, either 

 naturally or artificially. Growing 

 under these open conditions the trees 

 will always remain branchy and when 

 cut will produce only inferior material 

 since every branch which has been 

 allowed to develop on the main por- 

 tion of the trunk will result in one or 

 more knots in the lumber. The 

 strength and value of the material is 

 thereby greatly reduced. 



How to Prune. 



It is apparent then that if these 

 larger open-grown trees are to pro- 

 duce valuable timber the^- must be 

 artificially pruned. The following 

 plan is suggested. The pruning should 

 begin, if possible, before the lower 

 branches have died or become over 

 one-half an inch in diameter and 

 before the trunk is over four inches 

 in diameter at stump height. In 

 order that best results may be ob- 

 tained, the branches must be cut off 

 right at the trunk. No projecting 

 stubs must be left. To leave long 

 stubs will obviously have the same 

 effect as leaving branches. They 

 become imbedded in the body of 

 the tree as the new wood is formed 

 around them and the result is a loose 

 knot in the sawn timber. 



Leave Heavy Top. 



The branches should not be re- 

 moved too many at a time. They 

 should be cut gradually, that is, two 



