Retrospective Criticism. 293 



ought to be left to nature, every thing else ought to be, and the barren heath 

 should never have been planted at all. Talk of the natural forests of America, 

 indeed ! Mr. Ballard can know but little about them. It is well known that, 

 in the forests of America, not one tree in ten will pay for felling ; and not one 

 tree in a hundred will pay for exportation. Indeed, where land is selling at a 

 few dollars per acre, one good tree on the acre would pay for the whole ; 

 whereas, in England, by proper planting and pruning, 300 trees, worth \Ql. 

 each, may stand on the acre. Although I firmly believe that the proper prun- 

 ing of a tree assists the growth of timber, as much as the thinning of fruit, on 

 the garden walls or in the vinery, promotes the swelling of those left ; let 

 us admit, for argument's sake, that it does no such thing ; still, whatever we 

 may say, there is some difference, in intrinsic value, between a ton of clean 

 timber in one straight log, and a ton of crooked branches or spray. There is 

 a difference in the value of the but end of a tree, and the top end of the same 

 tree, where it is all covered with branches ; the top of each tree is a specimen 

 of the unpruned tree, and the but end is a specimen of the well-pruned tree. 

 A tree planted singly, or in a hedgerow, will never shed its branches as it 

 sheds it leaves ; the lower branches can only be killed by the crowding of 

 other branches, for example, as takes place when they are under the drop 

 and in the shade of other trees ; but, by skilful pruning, a fine clean stem may 

 be obtained for a single tree, as well as for one in the midst of a wood or 

 forest. Look at the plate, or cut, of the beech tree in Woburn Park, given as 

 the frontispiece to Pontey's Practical Forest Primer, and then say whether 

 pruning is necessary or not ? I had intended giving you an account of my 

 journey into Scotland last summer, but the Weekly Dispatch has monopolised 

 my lucubrations, and I have but little time for writing or revising, but I shall 

 give you a paragraph out. of my portfolio, as follows: — " From Langtown to 

 Langholm, the appearance of the country was still more beautiful ; whitewashed 

 cottages adorning beautiful situations. Here I saw the loftiest trees I had 

 ever seen in my life, consisting of larch, spruce, and silver fir : it was, as the 

 old shepherd said, ' quite a look, to look up to them ;' their tops, indeed, 

 were lost among the clouds ! Now these trees had never been pruned, and I 

 had almost begun to renounce my favourite theory of pruning trees ; until we 

 arrived at the depot and sawpits, where I saw the boards and planks exactly 

 resembling a picture of the ragged pole which we had seen at the Zoological 

 41 Garden at Liverpool, for the bear 



rxTTTTT \ \.l\ — ^ — v — to climb up ' so ? hu £S ed m y 



////')) / )// / / / favourite theory still more close- 

 /////////// | / ty" Every knot proceeds direct 



from the centre, like a herring 



bone, only tapering in the reverse way; that is, increasing in size as they get 



near the surface: thus, Jig. 41. is a board from an unpruned tree; and^g. 42. 



42 a board from a well-pruned tree. 



- — The small knots in the centre 



' ?y> board are of little or no detriment, 

 - % " v and the outside boards are incom- 

 —————————————— parably superior. We hear of live 



knots being better than dead knots, but let me have a tree without any knots 

 at all ; and this can easily be obtained by pruning the trees in proper time, the 

 expense of which will not be one tenth part of the expense of cutting the same 

 branches off when they are ten times the diameter. — John Howden. Heath 

 House, near Cheadle, April 13. 1834. 



Forcing Asparagus, (p. 147.) — The mode of forcing asparagus, without 

 removing the plants from the beds in the open garden, must be an advantage 

 which, I think, will appear obvious to every one ; at least, as far as it respects 

 obtaining fine heads. This, I conceive, is a sufficient reason for the forced 

 asparagus being finer at Paris than that brought to the London markets ; as, 

 by the removal of the roots, according to the English method, it is natural to 

 suppose that the shoots must be weakened, and, consequently, not so fine as 

 Vol. X. — No. 51. x 



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