946 



Canadian Forestry Journal, February, 1917 



or three of the lowest branches to 

 be taken off every three or four years. 

 The top or green portion of the tree 

 should always be maintained not less 

 than one-half to one-third of the 

 total height of the tree. If too little 

 top is left the growth of the tree is 

 seriously retarded. No more green 

 branches are removed after the trunk 

 has been cleared to the height of 19 

 feet above the ground, since the 

 object is to produce only one sound 

 clear 18 foot log per tree above the 

 one foot allowed for stump height. 

 The branches above the 19 foot mark 

 are left to flourish and extend as 

 they will, until such time as the 

 trunk may have reached the diameter 

 required by the owner and the tree 

 is finally cut down. 



The Cost Per Tree, 



This is a simple method of obtain- 

 ing good material from trees which 

 would otherwise produce little better 

 than fence posts or firewood. It is 

 not a costly method when one con- 

 siders that the work can be done dur- 

 ing the winter when there is com- 



paratively little work being done on 

 the farm. The total value of the 

 labor when the pruning has been 

 completed would probably not am- 

 ount to more than 10 to 15 cents 

 per tree. 



Removing the branches above the 

 nineteen foot mark is not recom- 

 mended largely because it necessi- 

 tates a ladder of such length and 

 weight being used, that it cannot 

 be readily handled by one man. An- 

 other reason for not removing the 

 green branches above the first log 

 length is the fact that the greater 

 the green, top a tree has the more 

 rapid is its trunk diameter growth. 

 To reduce the size of the top further 

 would mean the lengthening of the 

 time required to produce merchant- 

 able sized material. 



Lumber For Belgium. 



Professor Albert van Hecke, of the 

 University of Louvain, Louvain, Bel- 

 gium, is in America to study the most 

 suitable lumber for the re-building 

 of Belgium after the war. 



SPRUCE AND BALSAM COMING IN ON AN OLD CLEARING. 

 Unless This Stand Becomes Thicker, Much of the Timber Will be of Inferior Quality. 



