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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Photo by Warren H. Miller. 

 THE FORESTERS TASK IN THE TERRES NOIRES. 



The principles of natural regeneration 

 are, first, the admission of sunlight to 

 the forest floor in sufficient quantity 

 to germinate the crop of seeds ; second, 

 the maintenance of a suitable shade 

 over the seedlings resulting from a fall 

 of seeds ; and, finally, the removal of 

 the last of the old stand. These oper- 

 ations are accomplished in practice as 

 follows : — The forest is divided into 

 as many cantons as the number of years 

 of the revolution selected (70-120) and 

 a seeding cut is made in one canton 

 each year, cutting from east to west. 

 The severity of the seeding cut is de- 

 termined by the species and the first 

 canton in the series is selected that has 

 a seed year due that year. With the 

 oaks enough trees are taken to leave 

 the balance on 100 ft. centers; Sylvester 

 pine at the other extreme would be left 

 on 200-250 ft. centers. The forester 

 sees to it that these seed trees are all 

 sound, healthy, and capable of shedding 

 an abundant crop of acorns, beech-nuts, 

 hornbeam, samaras or pine wing-seeds 

 that fall (whatever mav be the species), 



and the following spring, since the for- 

 est floor is warm and sunlit, an 

 abundant crop of seedlings comes up, 

 wdiich gives a thick fur of young trees 

 of the same species as the original for- 

 est overhead. If not completely suc- 

 cessful, a second crop of seeds is al- 

 lowed to fall before proceeding to the 

 secondary cut. This removes half of 

 the seed trees, leaving enough protec- 

 tion to guard the young trees from sun- 

 scorch and early frosts. Five years 

 later they have grown so as to no longer 

 require protection, and the terminal cut 

 is then made which takes the last of the 

 old stand. The reproduction is now 

 complete and it has cost nothing beyond 

 a slight increase in logging expense due 

 to cutting over the same canton three 

 times instead of once as would have 

 been the case with clear cutting. But 

 the cost of planting, not less than $5 

 an acre, has been saved. 



Continuing the regime of the Stand- 

 ard forest, the young growth is left to 

 itself for about fifteen years after the 

 terminal cut. It then receives its first 



