MR. F. I.ONG ON THE BOUGHS AND TRUNKS OF FOREST TREES. 019 
the whole tree was affected, and even the trees in woods were 
all blighted in the same way. In due time nature began to 
assert herself again and a fresh crop of leaves began to appear, 
whilst at the same time adventitious shoots started in great 
abundance all along the branches, giving them a fringed appear- 
ance. In many cases the whole trunk was encircled from tin- 
top to the bottom. This adventitious growth continued to in- 
crease and grow and is now merged into the general economy 
of the tree, and its branches at the present time extend from 
a foot to three or four feet. On looking at an Oak or Elm we 
no longer see the boughs in their simple nakedness with just 
a few normal branehlets, but instead, an adventitious growth 
almost encircling them, which in another eight or ten years will 
be so thick, that instead of a tree we shall be looking upon an 
enormous bush. Even now some of the smaller trees begin to 
present that appearance. 
From information I received from Kew, the storm was general 
all over the British Isles, although the low temperature was 
confined to the northern and eastern parts of the kingdom. 
This agrees with what I noticed in travelling to Southport. 
From Nottingham on through Derbyshire to Manchester the 
Oaks were in their natural condition, or were but very little 
affected about the latter place. Further north, up to Windermere, 
I noticed that they were much the same as they are here. 
The question now is, have the trees suffered in any way from 
this altered condition of their nature ? From an aesthetic point 
of view, one would say that they had, for when the foliage has 
become so dense that the branches are no longer clearly visible, 
a good deal of their charm and beauty Mill be gone. From 
a commercial point of view one would say that the trees had 
suffered a good deal, the younger ones especially, although there 
has not been sufficient time yet to test it. All this extra grou'th 
must, 1 think, tend to arrest the full development of trunk for 
the purposes of timber. As a rule trees with a great number 
of small branches do not make fine timber. I am afraid not 
much can be done in the way of remedial measures as it would 
be impossible to strip all the trees, and even if this u-ere under- 
taken in some cases, in a few years there would be the same 
condition again. 
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