136 ON PRUNING FOREST TREES, ETC. 
None of these branches need be cut close to the stem, and if the 
plantation is moderately close this will be all that they require, 
as they will get enfeebled and fall away ; but in more open and 
airy situations those lateral branches which were shortened | 
may be in four or five years removed close to the stem, before — 
they are beyond the size of being cut off by the pruning-knife. | 
Young plantations should be gone over every second year, 
until the stems of the trees have acquired a proper form, | 
having an eye to a sufficient girth in proportion to the height, | 
which girth is promoted chiefly by side branches, at the same 
time bearing in mind that next in importance to keeping the 
tree in a proper figure should be the preservation of the 
greatest quantity of its foliage. It is the general rule to 
shorten the branch likely to gain an ascendency over the 
leading shoot; but if the leading shoot is weak, stunted, or 
unhealthy it is sometimes of advantage to remove it, and 
prefer the more vigorous one, which through the flow of sap 
will readily become straight and in proper form. A few years 
after hardwood plants are planted it sometimes happens that 
some of them are found stunted and making no progress; and 
in the case of oak, elm, or ash, young shoots frequently appear 
at the surface of the ground. This is sometimes occasioned 
by the roots being too bare, or destitute of a sufficient supply 
of young fibres, or from their exposure to the weather in 
planting, or subsequent drought, etc. In such cases the plant 
should be lopped over at the surface, or just above the most 
vigorous shoot, which should be retained for the future tree, 
and the other suckers should be pruned off. .The lopping of 
such plants should be performed with a sharp knife by a prac- 
tised hand, so that the operation may be made without dis- 
turbing or straining the root of the plant. It is a common 
error in the management of plantations to clear the stems of 
all side-branches to a certain height at the first pruning, and 
afterwards to operate only on the under branches of the tree. 
This tends to produce a small trunk, an irregular top, and 
side branches more vigorous than the leader. When this is 
practised in exposed places, not one in a hundred ever becomes 
