Ann wrote:
"Quilljar" expounded:

Pine trees are a crop just like cabbages. The lower branches are
pruned regularly so that the wood which will be harvested will be
straight grained and therefore fetch a much higher price - simple

That may be true if you're talking about a tended woodland, but in
this case the OP is talking about pine trees in general. There isn't
a little tree gnome running around the woods trimming branches.

Well, you may be right Ann, but he didn't actually specify wild woods. In my
experience trees usually belong to somebody, and they get pretty annoyed if
you mess about with them, camping and so on. Mind you, I live in the UK and
our wilderness disappeared sometime around 1066 AD! All our forests are now
tree farms.


Quilly