FOREST TREES. 197 
off all the side branches to force the growth into a 
strong upright shoot. All side branches of too vigor- 
ous growth should be shortened. No other pruning 
is needed until the trees are ten or twelve feet high ; 
when all dead or sickly limbs should be cut off close 
to the stem, and others removed at the rate of one, 
or at most two tiers annually; keeping one-half or 
two-thirds of the trunk clear of branches. Pruning 
should be done after the leaves have fallen. In regard 
to thinning, London says: “ Where the object is tim- 
ber of large size, the trees ought to be thinned out 
soon after the branches at the lower part of the trunk 
interfere with one another to such an extent as to 
destroy all vegetation on the surface of the ground 
beneath them; but where they are intended for posts, 
fencing, or other minor country purposes, they ought 
to be allowed to stand thick so as to be drawn up 
clean, slender, and straight.” The first thinning 
should be slight, removing only the worthless or least 
valuable trees. Thinning should be continued until 
the trees are thirty or thirty-five years old, and the 
number is reduced to four hundred or five hundred 
p-r acre, which is as many as can grow to perfection. 
The strongest and most vigorous trees should be left, 
even if the distances between them are not equal. 
The exercise of judgment and common sense on the 
part of the cultivator is of more consequence than 
any rules that can be given. 
It has been pretended that the Tyrolese and Scotch 
Larch are distinct ‘varieties, some claiming that the 
former is the most valuable, others that the latter is 
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