The Improvement of the Woodlot 



1487 



Objects. — Such cuttings have several objects: they should gradually 

 remove poor trees, and increase the proportion of the best ones; they 

 should make the timber that is left standing grow more rapidly; they will 

 usually yield some useful wood materials. 



What to cut. — Instead of first selecting the trees to be cut from a crowded 

 clump, it is better to pick out the best trees in the clump and then decide 

 what trees should be removed in order to help the best ones. In choosing 

 the best trees, we should consider not only the species, or kind, of tree, 



Fig. 213. — A stand of young hardwoods in which an improvement cutting has just 



been completed 



and the straightness and freedom from knots, but also the crown. If the 

 tree has only a few scraggly branches it will probably not be able to develop 

 into a rapidly growing tree, even if given more light. The best crown is 

 one that is set high on the trunk, leaving a clear trunk below, is compact 

 instead of wide spreading, and is about equally developed on all sides. 

 The aim in thinning should be to get as many of the trees as possible to 

 develop crowns of this kind. If a tree that is otherwise good has its crown 

 hemmed in on one or more sides by other trees, it can, if still vigorous, be 

 enabled to develop a good full crown by removing one or more of its neigh- 

 bors. The trees to be cut should be so chosen that when the thinning is 



