FIR PLANTATIONS. 135 



its nearest neighbour ; and in all cases where fir 

 trees are raised for timber, as well as for shelter, 

 they should be kept rather closely together than 

 otherwise. And upon observation, the most advan- 

 tageous distance will be found, as I have formerly 

 mentioned, to be about one third of the height of 

 the trees generally. When firs are kept growing 

 at a distance less .than one third of their height, 

 they become tall, slender, and weakly ; and if grown 

 at a distance from one another greater than that 

 mentioned, they become branchy and do not increase 

 proportionately in height, and the timber is generally 

 coarse. No pruning of fir trees should be allowed ; 

 pruning invariably injures the quahty of the wood 

 of fir trees, and besides, the health of fir trees is 

 much injured by pruning. If the trees are kept as 

 nearly as possible at the distance specified above, 

 they naturally prune themselves as they advance in 

 height ; for as soon as the lower branches of the 

 fir and pine tribe become confined, and a want of 

 free air ensues in the body of the plantation, they 

 gradually die and fall off without in the least in- 

 juring the quality of the timber. In the act of 

 thinning, great care should be had to see that no 

 large open space be left among the trees, which in 

 any direction would in length measure more than 

 the height of one of the trees growing by it ; and 

 this can be easily avoided by proper attention in 

 the disposal of the trees upon the ground, not to 



