408 



Thinning, Pruning, mid Girdling Trees. 



scription : though, in many cases, even this object may be dis- 

 regarded, for the straightest timber is not always the most 

 valuable. 



Girdling Trees. — Mr. Monteath, in his Forester^ s Guide, 

 strongly recommends the disbarking of trees in the spring, before 

 they are to be felled ; and the effect in hardening the timber is cer- 

 tainly very great ; but, in a hot summer, the exposed alburnum 

 is apt to split more or less. A better mode has been found to be 

 that of merely cutting out clean, a rim, about 4 in. in width, of 

 the bark, close to the ground ; which, in larches, seems to cause 

 the turpentine to be wholly incorporated in the wood, instead of 

 passing down to the roots ; and, in fact, it so totally alters the 

 condition of the trees, that the workmen complain of their being 

 much more difficult to saw. 



Another result appears also very interesting. On February 9. 

 1831, a section was cut from a larch that had been girdled, as 

 above mentioned, in the spring of 1830, and which then weighed 

 6540 gr. On March 21. it weighed 4990 gr., having lost 1550 gr. 

 A similar section, cut at the same time, from an ungirdled larchi, 

 weighed, on February 9., 5610 gr. ; and, if it had lost by evapora- 

 tion only in the same proportion as the other, should have shown, 

 when weighed on March 21., a loss not greater than ISSOgr. ; 

 instead of which, it then weighed only 3330 gr. ; thus showing a 

 loss of 2280 gr., nearly double the proportion of the former. 



The effect of this process in establishing the straightness of 

 the wood is, moreover, very beneficial. A ladder made from 

 a larch so treated will be useful ; whilst one not so seasoned will 

 twist so as to be quite worthless. 



Chester, December 4. 1835. 



p,S. — Juli/ 3. 1836. This spring I have, for the first time, 

 adopted a simple contrivance, by which the girdling is effected 

 readily, and with precision, of which the sketch Jig. 65. will 

 give you some idea. 

 In this figure, a is a 

 piece of wood, 2 ft. 

 long, 4 in. wide, and 

 2 in. thick, having two 

 saws screwed one on 

 the top and the other 

 at the bottom, so as 

 to be perfectly paral- 

 lel at the distance of 

 6 in. from each other, and projecting about three quarters of 

 an inch ; b shows the uppermost saw ; c is another piece of 

 wood, of the same dimensions, having four small rollers project- 

 ing opposite to the saws ; d d show the uppermost two of these 



