THINNING AND PRUNING 143 



" to be the Hand-bill, Hatchet, Hook, Hand-saw, an excellent 

 Pruning-knife, broad Chisel and Mallet, all made of the best 

 steel, and kept sharp ; and thus he is provided for greater or 

 more gentle Executions, Purgations, Eescissions, and Coercions." 

 He then goes on to describe the use to which each tool should 

 be put, and condemns the practice of leaving snags on the 

 boles instead of cutting them close in to the trunk. Dis- 

 orderly husbandmen are warned against " coveting to let their 

 Lops grow to an extraordinary size before they take them off, 

 as conceiving it furnishes them with more Wood for the Fire ; 

 not considering how such ghastly Wounds mortally affect the 

 whole body of the tree." 



Further on, however, the subject of pruning as we under- 

 stand it to-day is dealt with, for we are told that " it is by 

 the Discreet leaving of the Side-boughs in convenient places, 

 sparing the smaller and taking away the bigger, that you may 

 advance a Tree to what determined height you Uke: Thus, 

 bring up the Leader, and, when you would have that spread 

 and break out, cut off aU the Side-boughs, and especially at 

 Midsummer, if you espy them breaking out. Young Trees 

 may every year be pruned, and, as they grow older, at longer 

 Intervals, as at three, five, seven, or sooner, that the Wounds 

 may recover, and nothing be deformed.' 



Coming to the publications which appeared about 1800 

 by Monteath, Pontey, etc., we find the subject dealt with in 

 a more definite manner. Monteath directs the forester to 

 commence pruning after the first thinning, when the trees 

 are about 5 to 6 feet high, taking out all double leaders and 

 keeping the main stems as clean as possible. Branches which 

 grow at an acute angle to the main stem are to have stones 

 or weights tied to their tops, and to let them hang down- 

 ward, so that a cleft or forked stem may not be formed. 

 Monteath states that " the value of the Oak, the Elm, and 

 Spanish Chestnut depends a good deal on their being crooked, 

 as they are all used in ship-building. If you have an Oak, 

 an Elm, or Chestnut that has two stems, as it were, striving for 

 the superiority, lop or prune off the straightest upright grow- 

 ing stem, and if a Tree that is not likely to be of much value 

 be standing on that side to which the stem left seems to 

 incline to a horizontal position, take away the Tree and give 



