XVI. 
ON PRUNING FOREST TREES, ETC. 
THE utility of pruning hardwood trees is generally ad- 
mitted by experienced and practical men. It is sometimes 
denied by those who have witnessed the bad effects of an im- 
proper system, such as carpenters and mechanics, who readily 
discover the evil resulting from the “lopping and boughing” 
of a bad system, while they are unacquainted with the advan- 
tages of early and judicious pruning, which leaves no mark on 
the future bole, but directs it early into the figure most valu- 
able as timber, and in some cases its effect on the individual 
tree may be compared to that of the judicious thinning of a 
plantation, as it directs the energies of the soil to the growth 
of one trunk, instead of a number of smaller ones. Theorists 
also sometimes deny the use of pruning, overlooking the fre- 
quent necessity of directing the growth of the trunk in the 
way most suitable for mechanical purposes, and they contend, 
on physiological principles, for bulk, through the agency of 
leaves. Although pruning does not in ordinary cases ulti- 
mately increase the bulk or weight of wood, yet trees which 
are early and judiciously pruned will be improved in quality, 
increased in their useful dimensions and ultimate value, and 
will grow in greater numbers on a given space. 
But although early and skilful pruning is of advantage to 
hardwood trees generally, it is not to be recommended for the 
different species of coniferous trees except under unusual cir- 
cumstances ; for instance, I have seen it practised with 
advantage in native and planted woods in the Highlands, 
where trees were far asunder and bushy, arising with two or 
three stems, occasioned by being eaten over by cattle or sheep, 
