PRUNING FOREST TREES. 
55o 
longer time in barliing over. The Averuncator^ (lig. 94.) is a 
useful instrument for cut- 94 
ting off the branches high 
from the ground, sucli as 
double leaders, &:c. and 
other branches rather too 
large for the knife, when 
done in proper time. 
Before all the nurses 
are taken away, some of the timber trees will want thinning. They 
should be cut close to the ground smoothly, and by a stroke upwards, 
as they are expected to produce underwood. As the timber trees 
grow, they will want going over every two or three years, both for 
thinning and pruning. The best of them should be relieved by 
felling on one side now, and the next thinning on the other, as the 
tops interfere with their neighbours; after which some of the lower 
branches should be taken off to fonn a stem: and if any are yet 
double headed that should also be attended to, but as they get older 
they will seldom do so, and by all means prune with moderation. 
(The Locust or Acacia recommended by Mr. Cobbett wants particu¬ 
lar attention as to pruning when young, as it is apt to throw out sev¬ 
eral large branches; these being taken off in time, it will form a 
good timber tree in a plantation.) As the trees grow to twenty or 
thirty feet high, they must be thinned and pruned in the same man¬ 
ner ; but by no means thin the heads as recommended by some au¬ 
thors, but leave them to their natural form of growth, except taking 
off lower branches to form a stem. When they get from thirty to 
forty feet high, and ujjwards, they will want the lower branches 
taking off, whose leaves get sickly, and have little growth in them, as 
by leaving them on longer, the knot in the timber will be larger. 
Their stems will now be half their height or more. 
In tinning by all means attend to the underwood, so that the plan¬ 
tation be not blown through by the wind, for being thin below is one 
of the worst cases of bad management, and must be guarded against 
by not leaving the principal trees too thick. When trees are much 
waved about by the wind they shew gi’eat neglect in former thinnings; 
and the whipping of tops in windy weather, particularly in the spring, 
is exceedingly injurious, and is scarcely ever to be remedied by fu¬ 
ture thinning. The best way is, if they be ash, chesnut, or any trees 
that shoot well from the ground, to take them close down. 
In pruning plantations that are growing up, say thirty or forty 
feet high, be very careful not to take too many branches off the out- 
