PRUNING 



with two preliminary cuts, as shown in the diagram, 

 trimming the stub down to the proper level of the trunk 

 afterwards. The first of these two cuts is made from 

 the under side of the limb up, and about five or six 

 inches away from the trunk from which the limb rises; 

 this cut should extend a little more than halfway through 

 the limb. Then, half an inch nearer the tree trunk, the 

 second cut is made, from the upper side of the limb 

 down. The branch will fall to the ground without 

 splintering or tearing in the least as this cut is completed. 

 Then the saw is 

 laid flat against 

 the main trunk as 

 before directed, 

 and the stub taken 

 off. This levels 

 the surface and 

 prepares for the 

 healing process 

 which Nature im- 

 mediately takes The Right Way to Cut off a Heavy 

 up. Branch. 

 Never leave 



any stub extending out from the trunk or the trunk 

 branch, for the bark of the tree cannot draw together 

 over such a stub, and the stub is bound therefore to 

 die, then to rot away, and then to carry decay straight 

 down into the heart of the tree. The drawing illus- 

 trates this. 



Shoots and small branches should be removed just 



33 



