TIMBER. 



rvfry means llwuld, it is faid, bo ufcd, and towards which 

 iiothmK appears more likely to fuccced, than a wcll- 

 KTOunded afncral pradical mode of manaKement. from the 

 fime of the tree, being pt.t out, to their grealcft imaginable 

 aee of improvement. That a knowledge of fuch may by 

 pcrfcveraHce be gained, is not, it is faid, much to be doubted, 

 as from different fpecimens there appears great reafon to 

 conclude, that early and proper fide-lopping the branches, 

 and thinning out the young trees, will form a confiderable 

 feature in the plan and fyftem to be adopted and purfued. 



The fubfequent plan and rules for the general manage- 

 ment in thefe ctfcs.are giren as the partial refult of prafti- 

 cal experience, but of only a few years' obfervations. 



In the railing of this fort of timber, from every authonty 

 and obfervation, there can be no doubt, it is thought, that 

 all tlrs (liould be fet out or planted thick or near together, as 

 not more than four or five feet apart. That where tirs of the 

 fame kind are put out together, there is lefs lofs of plants, too, 

 from one fort not overgrowing and deilroying the others ; 

 conlequcntly, that it appears advifeable that all the different 

 forts ihould be fet out feparately by themfelves. If any 

 admixture at all be admitted, the Scotch fir and larch may, 

 oerhaps, bell fucceed together ; but this is not certain, and 

 they will unqueftionably be beft feparate on two accounts ; 

 firft, becaufe they are not fo likely to injure each other ; 

 and, fecondly, becaufe the larch may be put into the foil 

 bell fuitcd for it, and the Scotch fir the fame. And that in 

 r.iiGiig any particular fort cxtonfively, it may be right to 

 lijve a few of the fpruce fort, or others, on the out or 

 expofed fides, to prevent mifchicf from fudden gufts or 

 blalls of wind : but if the fituation be not liable to fucli 

 gufts, tlie fpruce had better be omitted, being mechanical 

 agents only, and, by excluding the fun and air, aft againft 

 the operations of nature. However, in thefe hints, orna- 

 ment is not, it is faid, confidered, but only timber : if the 

 former be wanted, and profit alfo, then the fpruce, the 

 larch, the filver, and fome other forts, may be combined. 



It is contended, that from fome years' obfervations on cut- 

 ting out and fide -lopping the branches, and the effects thereof, 

 it appears certain that fir-trees, wlienever they arrive at a 

 certain age, (hould be cut or lopped to a certain height ; 

 and that for regulating thereof, the fimple rule given below 

 is recommended : the cutting-in to commence when the 

 trees are fix years old, or when there is difcernible five tier 

 of boughs and the (hoot ; the three lower tier of boughs 

 are then to be taken off. After the firft lopping or cutting- 

 in, the trees to be let alone for four or five years, and then, 

 and at every fucceeding four or five years, the cuttings-in to 

 be repeated, till the ftemof the tree be clear to forty feet high, 

 after which, as to fuch fide-lopping, it may be left to nature. 

 The rule for the height of thinning and cutting-in, after the 

 firft time, to be half the extreme height of the tree, until 

 they attain twenty years' growth, and after that time, half 

 the height of the tree, and as many feet more as it is inches 

 in diameter at four feet from the ground. This cutting- 

 out and retrenching the branches of fuch trees is known, 

 from repeated obfervations, it is faid, not to be exceffive ; 

 and that the rule is calculated to check the too tapering 

 top, and for ftrengthening the flender bottom, by carrying 

 the cutting and retrenching to a greater proportionate 

 degree, in a ratio compounded of the height and bottom 

 bulk ; and by this rule, too, it may be obfcrved, that the trees 

 will be at top clothed with fomewhat lefs than half their 

 branches. The proper time for fuch cutting-in is, it is 

 faid, between September and April, and the tool to be 

 employed in the bufinefs, the favv. 



It is noticed, that orderly thinning the trees at certain 

 5 



periods, vvhen for timber, is the next effcntial to that of 

 cutting in and lopping their fide -branches ; and that for thii 

 purpofe, obfervations have been made on the moil orderly 

 and thriving coUefticns of this fort of trees, and the fubfe- 

 quent fimple rule is laid down : keep the diftance of the 

 trees from each other equal to one-fifth of their licight. In 

 the application of this rule to this purpofe, it is evident 

 that each individual tree can never be made to comply, for 

 the original diftance (even if fet out in the moll regidar 

 order) will allow only for certain modifications, by taking 

 out every other tree, and fo on ; but even if the obtaining 

 fuch equal diftance were prafticable, experience would (hew, 

 it is thought, that another way Ihould be preferred, of 

 which the eye niuft be the judge, by taking out fuch trees 

 as are leaft thriving, ftand neareft to other good trees. Sec. 

 &c. at the fame time keeping in view the rule laid down : 

 the direftions and rules for which, given below, may 

 cafily be proved, by ineafuring a chain fquare, or any 

 quantity of the land, and counting the trees thereon ; then, 

 by trying the height of tw o or three trees in that quarter, Sild 

 taking one-fifth of fuch for the diftance, it would be readily 

 feen how many trees for timber lliould be contained in the 

 piece meafured : or the praftice may be more finiply regu- 

 lated, it is faid, by taking the diftance of eight or ten fuch 

 trees added together, the average of which fliould he equal 

 to a fifth of the height of the trees. In thefe rules and 

 direftions there is nothing imprafticable or complicated, it 

 is thought. 



The writer ftates, too, that he has for years known the 

 expence and produce of this fide-trimming alone, and finds 

 that in Bedfordfliire the produce of it doubly repays the 

 charge or coft ; and that although fome experimentaliftj 

 may differ from him, or time may (liew fome reafon for 

 fomewhat deviating from his rule, it is prefumed all will 

 agree that fome fimple plan is advifeable, inftead of having 

 timber colleftions and woods mifmanaged, to the great lofs 

 of the community and their proprietors. If fuch a plan of 

 proceeding, as is here propofed, be generally promulgated, 

 if not perfeft, it will moft hkely, it is thought, in time become 

 fo, and thereby have its advantage ; and in order to promote 

 this, thefe concluding remarks are given : in the common 

 courfe of gardening, it is underftood that cutting and trim^ 

 ming invigorate the tree ; that taking off the fide-branches 

 makes the upright ones {hoot the ftronger ; and by cutting 

 out the dead and decayed wood, the tree is kept alive : 

 fome of this doftrine will, it is fuppofed, certainly apply to 

 the tribe of firs ; it will certainly, too, fubftitute clean 

 timber-wood for knots : and of all this treatment, from 

 their particular ufes, they of all other trees ftand in moil . 

 need, and will be the moft improved by it. And that 

 (hould it be admitted that the like treatment would on the 

 fir, as well as other ti-ees, produce the hke effeft, it would 

 lead to a well-grounded expeftation that, as v^'ell as pro- 

 ducing clearnefs from knots, ftraightnefs, and length, the 

 fame operation would advance the quality nearer to that of 

 foreign fir ; for it may be traced, that where trees are tall 

 and clear of boughs or knots, the whole fubftance of the 

 wood is better and of finer grain, and that it appears hkely 

 that fuch will always be the cafe ; the reafon of which 

 may probably, it is thought, be inferred from the fap 

 having farther to rife and defcend, and having ho boughs 

 to divert or delay it, the circulation muft be more free and 

 rapid, moft increafe be left in the neighbourhood of the 

 boughs at the top of the tree, and leaft on the fides at the 

 lower part, confequently adding to the length of the head, 

 and rendering mere fine each annual increafe to the body ; 

 thereby producing a ciofe-grained, clean, long, and regular 



eafy- 



