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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1899)
'Che Conservative , YOUNG PINES. Mr. Nathaniel Morton Favors Trimming the Lower [ A paper rend before the Massachusetts For estry Association. ] Mr. President , Indies nnd gentlemen : I hardly know whether or not to ac cept the invitation to address you , for the reason that I have had only eight years' experience in the cultivation of pines , and I am sure that I know very much less than there is to bo known on the subject , and probably many of you can tell mo a great deal more than I can tell you that is of interest in this matter. The only ground that I can stand on is to assume that you know nothing more about the subject than I did eight years ago. It is very generally known that the age of a tree may be found , after it is cut down , by coxanting the rings of growth , one of which is formed every year. Another way to find the age of n white pine is to count the rows or whorls of limbs on the trunk of the tree , which mark each year's growth. If the rows of the trunk cannot be easily seen the rows can bo counted on any prominent limb , from the end of the limb to the trunk and down the trunk to the ground. The age of a young tree can be accurately deter mined in this way. On a tree where many of the limbs have fallen off or been removed , as it may be difficult to determine the time it took to grow the first four or five feet , it is approxi mately correct to call it ten years. In January , 1891 , having in view the cultivation of white pine , a tract of 50 acres of woodland was purchased for § 400 , situated two and one-half miles from the central postoffice in Plym outh , Mass. The tract is a succession of hills and hollows holding its own rainfall , with the exception of a few acres which drain beyond the bounds of the lot. The soil is light , the sub soil , so far as known , sandy and gravelly. It is bounded on one side for half a mile by a highway. Two woods roads cross the laud diagonally and other roads have been made for convenience and to give better protection against any fires that may occur. This lot has been cut over many times , the previous owner cutting almost yearly for many years , wherever it would yield the best fire wood. Wo found the lot largely covered with a mixed growth of white pine and sprout oak of all ages up to CO years , the oaks usually the most abundant , but there were some tracts of a few acres each , six to eight acres in all , of pine 25 to GO years' growth with but a few oaks among them. Every winter we have cut upon some part of the lot and finished the cutting in the winter of 1890-1897. The plan pursued has been to remove all the oak that interfered with , or shaded too much the growing pine , and yet leave enough trees standing to encourage - courage the sprouting of pine seeds , with which the ground in many places was well supplied , and also to leave some shade to the young seedlings for a few years. Among the oaks wore found many thrifty growing pines 10 to 25 years old. Since 1890 enough pines have come up in many places , where oaks formerly predominated , to give promise of a thick pine forest in years to come , and wherever this new growth of pines is abundant the oak sprouts have been broken off. The best way found to kill oak stumps is to pound off the sprouts in winter when the stumps are frozen. Where trees have been cut four years very few stumps treated in this way sprouted again. Our pines five years old and over seem to thrive best in places where all other trees have been removed. It is a question whether the oak-sprouts , luickleberry and other low growth would not have made enough shade for seeds to germinate and grow to the best advantage if all the oalcs had been removed , especially on land sloping northerly. While cutting the surplus wood it was our custom to cut off all dead , , branches of the . Trimming. , . standing pines as high as could bo reached from the ground with an axe , and occasionally to cut live limbs to the same height. The method for the first four years waste to cut the limbs as near to the trunk as could be done without injury to the bark of the trunk , but sometimes , acci dentally the cut would extend into the bark of the trunk , and in smoothing the wound some bark of the trunk would bo removed all around the cut. In a few years' time it was found that the scars made by limbs thus cut off had become partly or wholly covered with new bark , while the scars made by cutting off limbs without cutting into the bark of the trunk had not healed over , and showed little or uo signs of doing so. The most of the trimming of the last three or four years has been done on the plan of cutting into the trunk enough to make a scar about twice the diameter of the limb cut off , cutting enough on all sides of the limb to be sure to cut through the inner bark of the trunk , for if the bark on any part is left unbroken it will not close in upon that side , and longer time will bo needed to cover the wound with now bark. Live limbs of all sizes up to three inches in diameter , and some even larger ones , have been cut off in this way , and give promise of becom ing entirely covered with new bark. All trees five feet high and over have had one or more rows of the lower limbs cut off , the plan being to continue such trimming yearly until all limbs have been removed to the height of 20 feet or more , always leaving enough : op limbs to promote the best growth of the tree. The difference in these two methods of trimming is well shown on one small tree. Five years ago several limbs one- quarter to three-eighths of an inch in diameter were cut off with a luiife as close to the tree as coxild bo done with out cutting into the bark of the trunk , or into the enlargement that often forms where the limb joins the trunk. Three years ago several other small linbs were removed from the same ; reo , but instead of being careful to cut off only the limbs special care was ; aken to cut into the bark of the trunk , leaving scars two or three times the diameter of the limbs cut off. New bark has closed over the limbs thus cut off three years ago. Where the limbs were so carefully cut five years ago , bark has not yet covered the wound , but the tree has grown outward all around the wounds , leaving holes in the trunk about three-eighths of an inch deep. Cutting into the bark of the trunk causes some loss of sap the first year , but the upward growth of the trees thus trimmed appears to be as rapid as of trees trimmed otherwise or not trimmed at all. The greatest up ward growths of the last seven years are found on trees trimmed in this way ; whether it is due to difference in the seasons or to the trimming we cannot say. say.Wo Wo have trimmed trees at all seasons of the year , but consider the middle to the end of summer to be the best time. A drawing knife is convenient for trimming small , low limbs , and for smoothing limbs cut with a saw. Live limbs up to an inch in diameter can be best cut with a heavy knife. The limb to be cut off is pressed toward the trunk of the tree with one hand , while the other hand , with one downward movement of the knife , cuts off the linib. Some sizes of limbs are best cut with a thin , sharp axe , skilfully used , striking the limb neither up nor down , but with side cuts. In removing limbs out of reach from the ground we begin at the upper limb to be removed , perhaps 20 to 80 feet from the ground , and cut off the limbs as we go down , using in one hand a light axe with short handle. So little labor is required properly to cut off small live limbs , that it seems to be a good investment of money in thick growths of pine to cut off the limbs that would soon die if not re moved , and thus secure clear lumber for all subsequent growth , instead of leaving the liuibs to die and hold to the trunk many years afterwards to cause an inferior quality of lumber. It requires more time properly to trim dead limbs than live ones. A white pine tree standing alone , or not shaded somewhat by other trees , may need to retain all the limbs that
