The way they did it in the old days and what I still do is to ring them. I got one now drying. What ya do is ring the tree right above the ground cutting a groove through the bark and inner layer to the wood in the center. I have used this technique on chicken trees and willows and trees at the camp I wanted for fire wood next year. By ringing the tree the roots continue to try to suply the tree and it bleeds to death killing the roots. Takes a while I ring them then wait till the tree is dead then cut it down. We used to ring trees at the hunting camp we wanted to use for fire wood next year at the end of the season. By next season they were dried standing.
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