Cree's S^/stem of Pruning Forest Trees, 453 



close to the main stem, but so as not to injure the adjoining 

 bark. This additional trouble will be amply compensated for, 

 by the earlier and superior manner in which the wound will be 

 cicatrised. 



Though the remarks which I have made regarding shorten- 

 ing and cutting off the branches are intended to have reference 

 in particular to deciduous and non-resinous trees, I am very far 

 from thinking that resinous trees are not benefited by judicious 

 pruning. The question of the propriety of pruning resinous 

 trees has, I am aware, been very much agitated, and great 

 diversity of opinion has existed, and does exist, on this point. 

 But it must be evident, that, if clean straight timber, free from 

 knots, be wanted, where branches exist, they must be removed, 

 to prevent knots from being formed. Perhaps our best plan- 

 tations of resinous trees prune themselves ; and it has often 

 appeared to me to be an injudicious assortment of trees, to 

 intermix pines with hardwood, unless it be for nurses, to be 

 afterwards removed. Pines, thickly planted by themselves (the 

 Scotch pine, for example), are found to produce the cleanest 

 timber, of the most rapid growth, and frequently without any 

 pruning. But still there are many cases, such as in that of 

 isolated trees, and especially when they are planted along with 

 hardwood, where resinous trees produce large branches. Now 

 these, in the case of the Scotch fir and larch in particular, ought 

 to be removed, provided it can be done judiciously, so as not to 

 injure the growth of the tree. By shortening and cutting off the 

 branches in a careful manner, as recommended for deciduous 

 trees, the object will be attained so as to injure the tree in the 

 least possible degree. 



In cutting off the branches of all kinds of trees, I wish it to 

 be distinctly understood, that I mean them to be cut off as close 

 to the stem as possible. But there is a little swell at the junc- 

 tion of the branch with the stem which must not be cut off, by 

 which the wound is not half the size that it would otherwise be. 

 And no wound should be polished up to the circular form of 

 the main stem, as such a process only enlarges the wound, and 

 hence it requires a much longer period before it is healed over. 

 Where the saw is used, the part, and particularly the bark, 

 should be cut clean over. 



Authors differ much regarding the mode of cutting off the 

 branches. By some it has been recommended to leave snags in 

 pruning; that is, to leave a few inches between the stem and the 

 part at which the branch is cut off. This I conceive to be a bad 

 system. Even granting that trees suffer much by bleeding, as it 

 is called, especially resinous trees, when cut close to the stem, 

 still that bleeding will soon be prevented by the wound being 

 cicatrised. Now, there are two evils attending the practice of 



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