. Bulletin. Forests and forestry -- United States. NATURAL PRUNING. 59 51 height above the ground. (See figs. 52-5G and PI. XXX.) The trunks of trees grown in the open, where even the lower limbs have abundance of light, are branched either quite to the ground or to within a short distance of it. But in the forest not only are the lower side branches continually dying for want of light, but the tree rids itself of them after they are dead and so frees its trunk from them en- tirely. When a branch dies the annual layer of new wood is no longer deposited upon it. Consequently the dead branch, wh
. Bulletin. Forests and forestry -- United States. NATURAL PRUNING. 59 51 height above the ground. (See figs. 52-5G and PI. XXX.) The trunks of trees grown in the open, where even the lower limbs have abundance of light, are branched either quite to the ground or to within a short distance of it. But in the forest not only are the lower side branches continually dying for want of light, but the tree rids itself of them after they are dead and so frees its trunk from them en- tirely. When a branch dies the annual layer of new wood is no longer deposited upon it. Consequently the dead branch, where it is inserted in the tree, makes a little hole in the first coat of living tissue formed over the live wood after its death. The edges of this hole make a sort of collar about tlie base. of the dead branch, and as Fig. 57.—Poiutedcrowua of saplings of Longleaf Piue growing rapidly in height. Southern Florida. a new layer is added each year they press it more and more tightly. So strong does this compression of the living wood become that at last what remains of the dead tissue has so little strength that the branch is broken off by an ice storm or by the wind, or even falls of its own weight. Then in a short time, if all goes well, the hole closes, and after a while little or no ex- terior trace of it remains. Knots, such as those which are found in boards, are the marks left in the trunk by branches which have Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original United States. Division of Forestry. Washington : G. P. O.
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