296 PRUNING. 



the edge of the best pruning-knife. A saw, too, is 

 very useful in cutting large branches, but it requires 

 so much practice to use this tool skilfully, that it 

 cannot be generally recommended. 



" Ladders. — Each labourer should be equipped with 

 a light ladder, proportionate to the height of the tree 

 on which he is to operate, and broader at the base 

 than at the top. De Courval recommends that the 

 feet of ladders intended for this purpose should be 

 pointed, to prevent them from slipping. This is a 

 good plan, although hardly sufficient to prevent acci- 

 dent; and the top of the ladder should be fastened 

 with a strong rope to the trunk of the tree, to prevent 

 it from being thrown down by falling branches. 



" Hooks or Spurs. — Except in very exceptional cases, 

 or where very large trees are to be operated on, the 

 climbing-spurs sometimes used by professional pruners 

 should not be allowed. These men, paid according to 

 the number of trees operated on or the quantity of 

 wood cut, have no idea in pruning beyond cutting the 

 largest amount of wood in the shortest time. Climb- 

 ing-spurs should never be used by good workmen even 

 in pruning young trees whose bark is not sufficiently 

 thick to resist the wounds caused by the sharp iron 

 teeth of this tool. Wounds made in this way encour- 

 age the growth of injurious side-shoots on the trunk, 

 and leave defects in the wood which never disappear, 

 and diminish its value. 



"The future value of a tree depends upon the 

 manner in which the operation of pruning has been 

 performed ; and the person to whom this work is 

 intrusted should fully understand its importance. 

 Unskilful or injudicious pruning may completely ruin 

 a tree, and the difficulty of obtaining a labourer cap- 



