162 WOOD AND GARDEN 



A spell of frosty days at tlie end of December 

 puts a stop to all planting and ground work. Now we 

 go into the copse and cut the trees that have been 

 provisionally marked, judged, and condemned, with the 

 object of leaving the remainder standing in graceful 

 groups. The men wonder why I cut some of the 

 trees that are best and straightest and have good 

 tops, and leave those with leaning stems. Anything 

 of seven inches or less diameter is felled with the axe, 

 but thicker trees with the cross-cut saw. For these 

 our most active fellow climbs up the tree with a rope, 

 and makes it fast to the trunk a good way up, then 

 two of them, kneeling, work the saw. When it has 

 cut a third of the way through, the rope is pulled 

 on the side opposite the cut to keep it open and let 

 the saw work free. When still larger trees are sawn 

 down this is done by driving in a wedge behind the 

 saw, when the width of the saw-blade is rather more 

 than buried in the tree. When the trunk is nearly 

 sawn through, it wants care and judgment to see that 

 the saw does not get pinched by the weight of the 

 tree ; the clumsy workman who fails to clear his saw 

 gets laughed at, and probably damages his tool. Good 

 straight trunks of oak and chestnut are put aside for 

 special uses; the rest of the larger stuff is cut into 

 cordwood lengths of four feet. The heaviest of these 

 are split up into four pieces to make them easier to 

 load and carry away, and eventually to saw up into 

 firewood, 



