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The Cornell Reading-Courses 



finished the trees left will cast a fairly even shade; there should not be 

 dense thickets alternating with large open spaces. 



Among the trees that should be cut whenever possible, the following 

 may be mentioned: poor species of trees; decaying and crooked trees, and 

 those with so many limbs that there is no hope of getting the lower part 

 of their trunks cleaned of branches ; overripe trees ; trees with large spread- 

 ing tops, taking up 

 more than their share 

 of room; poor trees 

 overtopping better 

 ones — for example, a 

 soft maple standing 

 over a white pine; 

 trees, even though 

 good in themselves, 

 which are standing so 

 close to better ones as 

 to retard the growth 

 of the latter. 



However, it is by no 

 means always desir- 

 able to remove all 

 such trees at one cut- 

 ting. It may be nec- 

 essary to leave some 

 to fruTiish seed; or it 

 may be that there are 

 so many poor trees in 

 the woods that if they 

 were all cut at once 

 the soil would run 

 wild. In such cases, 

 either special meas- 

 ures should be taken 

 to get a young crop of trees started in place of those that are cut, or else 

 the thinning should be done so gradually as not to injure the soil. It is 

 more important to keep a good cover over the land than to get rid of all 

 poor trees at once. Where there are only a few good trees among many 

 poor ones, it is often advisable to cut all of them and plant a new crop.' 



The underbrush should not be trimmed out in order to make the woods 

 " look pretty." It is better to have as many young trees as possible 

 growing under the older ones, unless the young growth is of poor kinds. 



Fig. 214. — Do not trim out undergrowth to make the woods 

 *^ look pretty." This undergrowth was planted at consid- 

 erable cost in order to keep the soil in good condition so that 

 the overhead stand of pine would grow faster 



