THINNING 



179 



bark. A bag, stuffed witb fog or straw, will answer 

 this purpose if placed below tlie rope. 



It may often liappen, in taking firs nearly full 

 grown from among deciduous trees, that none of the 

 latter will be in a state sufficiently mature to sus- 

 tain the weight of the former. In this case, men 

 may be employed to pull the rope in the proper di- 

 rection, or it may be made fast by a strong iron 

 stake, driven into the ground with a mallet. When 

 the wind happens to blow in the direction in which 

 the tree is wanted to fall, none of these artifices 

 will be necessary. 



It has already been remarked, that, when thin- 

 ning is delayed till the trees have suffered consider- 

 ably for want of air, the application of it will then 

 be productive of harm rather than good. This is 

 especially true with regard to firs ; and, in their case, 

 if the proper time of beginning to thin be allowed 

 to pass, it is wisest to abstain from the process alto- 

 gether, and let the stronger trees make room for 

 themselves by destroying the weaker. By this means, 

 a much less number will arrive at maturity than 

 would have been the case had thinning been time- 

 ously applied ; but better this than run the hazard 

 of ruining the whole by an injudicious attempt to 

 effect a cure, by means of an operation that has no 



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