V. j f • i II' ifi : î:
and many t re e s : all that can be said is, if proper regimen has been regularly attended to, trees will over,
come these and all other enemies.
5911. Tree plantations nre sometimes materinlly injured by animals. Among quadrupeds, the most destructive
are the long-tailed and short-tailed field mice (Jig. 9(53. a, b), the hare, and the rabbit. The
former two within these few years, have appeared in such incredible
numbers in the New Forest, and in the Forest of Dean, th a t nearly all 9 (5 3
the plantations have been destroyed by them. The injury a t one time
became so extensive, th a t the noble rangers were alarmed, and Lord
Glenbervie was indefatigable In his attempts to ssuubbdduuee tthheessee ppeerrnniicciious
little animais. The mischief \
occasioned by their barking the
young plants all round'the tree, from the ground to the height of about
6 in .; and, in many cases, by their gnawing the root through and
through. This first became apparent in the autumn of 1812, when a
large quantity of five-year-old oaks and chestnuts, with many other
forest trees, such as ash, larch, aud fir, were planted at regular distances
in the same enclosure : in the winter of th a t year, most of the
hollies, whose shoots had got to the height of 2 ft., 3 it., or more, were
found to be barked, and cither dead or dying. Various kinds of traps,
poisons, &c.,were tried, with little success: at length a number of
trenches, or holes, were cut, of the following dimensions : — They were
18 in. to 2 0 in. deep a t th e bottom, about 2 ft. in length, and I J f t. in
width ; and, at top, only 18 in. long and 9 in. wide, or, indeed, as small
as could be, to admit of the earth being got out of a hole of that depth;
for th e wider traps of this kind are below, and th e narrower above, the
better they answer tlieir purpose. The holes were made 20 yds. asunder, or about twelve on an acre.
To give some idea of the immense nurabers of mice that infested the forest, it will be sufficient to state
th at nearly 30,000 were caught in the traps alone; and th a t a far greater number had been previouslv
destroyed by cats, stoats, weasels, kites, crows, and other animals, brought from all quarters for that
purpose. Hares and rabbits are well known to injure trees by barking and gnawing the wood • and to
prevent this, it has been recommended to coat their stems with fresh cow-dung and u rin e ; it may be laid
on, with a brush, about 2 ft. high from the ground, and a barrow load will suffice fof a thousand trees
with stems from 3 m. to 4 in. m diameter, and one application will be sufficient for two years. {BzUl in
Cal. Hort. Mem., vol. iv. p. 190.) Grease, tar, and various other nauseous articles, have also been re sorted
to. Many persons plant the common laburnum, which hares are known to be very fond of, to
preserve th eir more valuable tre e s ; as the hares prefer th e bark of this tree so greatly, as rarely to touch
iannnye or tbhaerrk a. s long as they can obtain it. Squirrels are very destructive in plantations,. bjv destro/y infga the
5912. The insects h j which plantations are. principally injured, 964
are those generally termed timber borers. Many families of
coleopterous insects, such as the capricorn and other beetles,
live in th eir larva state entirely within the trunks of trees,
which they perforate in all directions. The forests of Germany
have been frequently devastated by a small beetle (Bos-
trichus typographus F.) which bores into the fir : these insects,
in their larva state, feed upon the soft inner bark only; but
forests are attacked by them in such vast numbers, that 80,000
have sometimes been found in a single tree ; and it is supposed
that, in th e year 1783, more than a million and a half of
trees in th e Hartz forests were thus destroyed. Fortunately
this scourge has never appeared in Britain. We have, however,
th e Hylesinus destrûctor of MacLeay, Scôlytus de-
strdctor of Olivier (fig. 964.) ; a small beetle, and the cause of
th e destruction now going on among the elms in Hyde and St.
James’s Parks, and in Kensington Gardens. Mr. MacLeay,
a t th e request of the park-ranger. Lord Sidney, drew up a valuable
report on the subject, which was printed in th e Edinburgh
Philosophical Journal, No. x x i. It appears from this,
that the perfect insects (a, natura l size; d, magnified) may be
found in great numbers flying about the parks, and even in the
streets of London, early in the spring; and that from th at time
until th e end of summer, the females are busily employed in
perforating the trunks of th e elms. After making her way
through the bark, the female insect proceeds to form a passage
(A) between th a t and th e wood, depositing her eggs on each
side as she advances, and then dying at the end of th e passage.
The eggs are placed close to each o th e r; and when hatched,
the larvæ begin to work a t right angles (c c) from the path (A)
of the parent, proceeding in a direction almost parallel with
each other. The best remedy against these insects th at has
yet been suggested, appears to be that recommended by Mr. MacLeay; viz. “ that th e trees should be
inspected twice a year : in summer, when the perfect insect is on the wing ; and again in winter, when
badly infested trees5 oouugghht tt.o... .b...e.. ..c..u..t.. .d..o- w n a nd rbt.u..r..n. .e..d.... ....I..f.. .t.h.-e_ s_t_a_t_e_ o_f_ t_h_e_ tree be not bad enough to
warrant this summary mode of treatment, it may be subjected to such heat
stroy the larvæ ; or covered over, w ith a mixture
of ta r and train oil, in March, to a certain
height from the ground.”
5913. Pine and fir trees are liable to the
attacks of two species of hymenopterous in sects;
Slrex gigas, and Juvéncus (fig. 965.).
T h e latter, in point of size, is ra the r less than
th e former; the body is of a beautiful steel
blue, and the wings brown : the injury is done
by th e larvæ, which reside in the trunk, and
bore it so much as to bring on premature
decay. These insects destroyed a great number
of trees in the plantations of Mr. Fol-
jambe both in Yorkshire and Wiltshire. The
abdomen of the female (a) is furnished with
ap a rticu lar ovipositor. Several other internal
feeders might be enumerated among the insect
enemies to tree s; but the injuries they
occasion are not such as to deserve particular
r fumigation i
5914. The insects which are external enemies to trees are, the cockchafer, the larvæ of sawflies iro n -
thredînidæ), and vanous species of aphides ; these devour th e leaves, or suck the sap ; but no aimlicable
remedy against Uiem has yet been proposed, except handpicking. ( See § 1611. to 5 16G7. ; and also the
Arboricultural Catalogue.) * ’
C h a p . VI.
Appropriating the Proditcts o f Trees, preparing them fa r Use or Sale, and estimating
their Value.
5915. O f the different products afforded hy trees, the first is their leaves, wliich are or
may be collected iu close plantations for the sake of the manure they afford ; and in open
gi’oves, parks, and lawns, for that purpose, and to prevent their iniuring the gi-assy surface.
Leaves arc also gathered on the Continent as food for cattle. Though, at first
consideration, leaves would appear to benefit pastures by sheltering the roots of
the grass during winter, and afterwards rotting into manure; yet experience proves,
that in considerable quantities they impede the growth of the grass plants, hy bringing
on decay at their roots. Eor this pui-pose, in wcll-wooded parks, the leaves arc carefully
collected in the beginning of winter, and carried to rot-heaps in secluded situations,
where in two years from the time of gathering, they become the valuable mould so
much in demand by the gardener. The foiiagc of the larch, and probably that of other
needle-leaved trees, seems under certain circumstances to be an exception. (See the
article Larch in the Arboricultural Catalogue, and also Encyc. o f Agriculture, § 2730.)
5916. Prunings or spray are the next product o ftre e s ; those which they afford a t a very early period,
and all clippings of hedges or artificial forms, are ouly fit to be used as leaves; the larger prunings may
be used for some of the various purposes to which copsewood and the lop of trees are applied. On the
Continent, and especially in Sweden and Norway, spray of all kinds is cut with the leaves o n ; and after
having been carefully faggoted in summer, is dried and stacked for the use of cattle in winter. This
was also the practice o fth e Homans, who preferred the spray of the elm, as th e Swedes do that of the
birch. ( See Encyc. of Agriculture, § 7005.)
5 91 7 . The thinnings, when not beyond a suitable age, and taken up properly, and at a proper season,
may be replanted in other situations, or as single trees and groups; or they may be used as hoops, hop-
poles, poles for garden-training, for fencing, for props in coal-pits, and for a great variety of purposes;
thoso whose barks are useful for tanning should not be cut down or rooted up tiil May; but the others
a t any time during winter. It is common to sort them into lots, according to their kind or size; and to
faggot up the spray for fuel, besom-stufl', or for distilling for pyroligneous acid.
5918. Tke seeds oftrees in general cannot be considered of much use beyond th at of continuing the
species, and therefore, in very particular cases, where it is desired a tree should attain bulk as rapidly as
possible, the flowers should be pinched off as they appear. The seeds of the oak, beech, and sweet
chestnut, however, are valuable for feeding swine, and where they abound may either be swept together
after ttiey drop, and carried away and preserved dry iu lofts for that purpose; or, if other circumstances
are favourable, swine may be driven under the trees to collect them. These, and other seeds, as the
haw and holly, are also eaten by deer. The seeds of the trees mentioned, and of all the resinous tribe
are m general demand by the nurserymen for the purposes of propagation. The seeds of almost all
other trees and shrubs are also in limited or occasional demand; or may be collected for private sowing
They generally ripen late in the season, and are to be collected in the end of autumn or the beginning of
winter, with the exception of a few, such as the elm, poplar, willow, and one or two others, which ripen
th e ir seeds m May or June, and ought to be collected when they begin to fall.
.5919. In osier-grounds, willows, whether intended for th e basket-maker or cooper, should not be cut
till th e second season after planting, in order to strengthen the stools; but by the third autumn the crop
will be fit for th e basket-maker, and the fourth, plantations intended for the cooper (hoops requiring the
growth of two years) will be ready. The seasons for cutting are November and March ; after the former
period th e %vounds are apt to be injured by frost, and after th e latter the sap is too far advanced; some is
lost by bleeding, and the buds are developed too suddenly to admit of proper strength in th e shoots
T h e cut should be made within three buds o fth e point whence th e shoot issued, in a sloping direction’
and the section on the under-side. In cutting hoop-willows, the swell a t the bottom of the shoot only
should be left, that being furnished with abundance of buds for future growth. After being cut the
hoops are trimmed from any side shoots, and tied up in bundles of a hundred, of six scores each The
willows are sorted mto three sizes, and tied in bundles 2 ft. in circumference within 1 ft of the
lower ends. When to be peeled, they are, immediately after cutting, set on thcir thick ends in standing
water, a tew inches deep, and there they remain till the sap ascends Ireely, which iscoramonlvbv the end
of the succeeding May. “ 7'he apparatus for peeling is simply two round rods of iron nearly ualf an
inch thick, 16 m. long, and tapering a little upwards, welded together a t the one end which is sharpened
so as that it may be easily thrust down into the ground. When thus placed in a piece of firm greund’
th e peeler sits down opposite to it, and takes the willow in the right hand by the small end, and puts 1 ft’
or more ot the great end mto the instrument, th e prongs of which he presses together with the leit hand
and with the n g h t draws the willow towards h im : by which operation the bark will a t once be separated
from the wood: the small end is then treated in the same manner, and the peeling is completed Aftor
being peeled, willow rods will keep iu good condition for a long time, till a proper market be found.”
5920. Qo/iscwiootfo are generally cttiotier when the shoots o fth e stools have attained from 3 in to 5 in
diarnetcr a t their bases; some, grown chiefly for hop-poles, and ware or stuff for crates, hamuers or
wattled hurdles, are cut over e a rlier; and others, where small timber for fencing and other countrv
purposes is wanted, are left later. In some parts of Herefordshire, where the oak grows with grc-it
rapidity, copsewoods are cutove r every twelve years; in the Highlands of Scotland, where it grows much
riower, th e time vanes from twenty to twenty-five or thirty years. “ The bark is there considered as
havmg arrived a t its utmost perfection, and at its highest value, at the age of between twenty and thirtv
y e a rs : under that age, its virtues are weak, and above it, it becomes coarse and loses its sap Another
important reason for cutting down oak coppice-w ood about the above period, is suggested in th e Stir,
lingshire Report, p. 218.; namely, ‘ that it is a fact established by experience, that it will not renew itself
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