554 PRUNING FOIIKST TRl-ES. 
TO MR. WITHERS, HOLT. 
Dear Sir, — 
As you expressed a wish some time ago that I would give you 
a few hints on pruning trees, I have now endeavoured to comply 
with your request; and you will find that I have mentioned 
most things necessary to be attended to in the management of plan- 
tations. I shall suppose that they are kept clean and that the plant- 
ing has been well done. 
Plantations want pruning verj' soon after they are made, if heading 
down may be so called. Trees from two to four years old are in 
general the best to plant. After they have been planted one or two 
years, many of them will be stunted in their growth, and not have a 
leading shoot ; such trees should be cut down with a knife close to 
the ground, particularly oak, Spanish chesnut, ash, elm, and many 
others. Beech is rather an exception. If the plantation is properly 
managed, in three, or at most four years old, it must be attended to 
again. Those trees which were cut down nmst have all the shoots 
taken oflat the ground but one, which is now left to be the tree ; and 
some more bad growing ones perhaps had better be cut do^Yn. The 
others which are not cut down, may want a branch or two shortening, 
or a few taking close off, and the hazel, (if any) cut close to the 
ground. The nurse trees, larch, birch, poplar, or whatever kinds 
they may be, must not be suffered to whip or damage those intended 
to stand for timber, but their branches must be shortened or taken 
off close, without regard to over pruning them, as they may be doing 
mischief to the others. This method may be continued another year 
or two, as the ])lantation may hajipen to tlrrive. When the trees are 
grown so close that they meet together, and no weeds are likely to 
form a turf under them in future, some of the nurse trees must be 
taken out; but only those which cannot be kept by pruning from doing 
damage to the principal trees, and it matters not how much they are 
cut away rather than take them down. Every two years at least the 
plantation must be gone over in this manner with the nui'ses, and the 
trees to remain will want attention as to pruning. One leading shoot 
must only be left, and a few of the lower branches may be taken off; 
but be sure to leave a good head, as over pruning when young is a 
bad mode of treatment. 
All small branches should be taken off with the knife ; but those 
too large for the knife the saw should be used, and in both cases quite 
close to the SMelling produced on^them, but by no means to injure that 
part, as it only increases the size of the wound, and it will be a 
