556 
PRUNING FOREST TREES. 
side trees, a business scarcely ever attended to; for by priming tbeni 
higb a jjlantation looks tbin and poor at a distance, and the cold is 
let more into the interior. 
There is a method of pruning still practised by some persons, of 
leaving a foot or more of the branch on the tree to die and rot off, 
which, if only an inch in diameter, may take several years to accom- 
plish, during which time the stem increases, and when the stumi) 
falls down a hole is left as deep as the tree has grown since the snag- 
ging, which hole must have time to fill up after the rotten branch is 
gone. The healing of the Avound is consequently delayed, and the 
defect in the timber greater. 
Instead of taking off a large branch by the stem, a great part of it 
may be cut off at a distance from it, leaving a small side branch to 
draw the sap and keep it alive, which is better than leaving a snag ; 
but this method should seldom be jiractised, being only the result of 
former bad management. 
In pruning young plantations the first or second time, branches 
may be frequently shortened or cut in, and it is often better than 
taking the whole ofi' quits close. 
In cutting down the underwood in plantations, not more than half 
the width of the plantation should be done at one time, the other half 
standing two or three years longer ; and in future cuttings down, 
some of the stools may be trained as wavers or undertrees, to fill up 
\\here there is room under the principal tress and above the under- 
wood ; by which means the plantation will be thick in the middle as 
well as at the bottom, and not be blown through by the winds. Also 
if the plantation is narrow, and there is a strong hedge, it should be 
left for shelter, till the underwood has grown a year or two ; but we 
frequently see both cut at the same time. 
Where plantations, generally called clumps, are wanted for orna- 
ment, and are intended to be open groves when they are old "enough 
not to be hurt by cattle, the principal trees must be left thinner than 
in woods, and allowed to form rather larger heads ; so that when they 
are thrown open to the lawn they will not feel the want of shelter so 
much, and be more beautiful to stand alone. The underwood may 
also be thinned by degrees, and some even left till the fence is taken 
away. 
The stem of a tree always increases according to the size of the 
head as every healthy branch contributes to its growth. A tree but 
little 2:)runed, and standing singly, will have a large head and short 
stem ; and that stem will increase in size very fast, but not be so 
\Hluablc from its deficiency in length of stem. The branches will be 
