The period of bark-stripping and harvesting is one of the most anxious seasons of the year with the forester, as the quality of the bark is so largely dependent upon the weather during the time that intervenes between the stripping and stacking, or delivery, and not less so upon the carrying out of the work at the proper time, to secure easy and expeditious peeling. In most cases the time when the bud is just expanding into leaf is that which gives the greatest weight of bark of the best quality, with the smallest amount of labour. By deferring the work, even for a few days, there is often a loss in weight amounting to as much as 10 per cent., and a great deterioration in quality. Even in the most favoured situations it is seldom that the season for stripping extends beyond twenty-eight days. The advantages of early stripping are so well known that any comment on the subject is unnecessary; suffice it to say that, immediately the bark commences to “run” freely, no time should be lost in making a start, and the work should be prosecuted with vigour and dispatch until completed. The proper time to commence barking cannot, however, be fixed with any amount of certainty, much depending on the season, whether early or late, as well as on the district of the country in which the operation is to be performed. During ordinary seasons, and in most parts of England, bark-stripping commences during the third week in April and continues for about a month, or until such time as the trees are in full leafage, whereas in some parts of Scotland, especially the north, the operation is frequently nearly a month later. No mistake can, however, arise as to the right time to start barking in any locality, as in all cases the period when the bud is first bursting into leaf will be found the proper time for felling to insure easy stripping and the best quality of bark. As the season of bark-stripping is, therefore, of short duration, every preparation should be made beforehand—trees marked and numbered, tools in readiness, and squads arranged—so that an early start may be made, as, by deferring the work beyond the time stated above, there is not only a perceptible loss in weight, but considerable deterioration in the quality of bark as well. Elaborate directions regarding the arrangements of squads and tools to be used are unnecessary, as almost every district has its own peculiarities in this way. The tools generally in use are heavy axes and the cross-cut saw for felling, hand-bills and saws for pruning, peeling-irons or chisels for removing the bark, scrapers for removing moss, and light wooden mallets for beating refractory bark or such as cannot be removed by the peeling-irons alone.