1902.] FORESTRY FOR THE FARMER, 167 



give another more chance. But if the openings are made too 

 large, the sun gets at the soil unduly, and causes a loss in 

 that most important of factors in the growth of a forest, 

 moisture. If the openings are too large it also means that 

 the forest is more exposed to the uprpoting power of the wind, 

 and that light is being lost, which might be utilized in the 

 production of wood. The trees should be kept more crowded 

 when young to induce a good height growth instead of 

 lateral development, and to free the lower parts of the trunks 

 from branches, each of which means a knot in the lumber. 

 An excellent sign that you have thinned too severely is the 

 appearance of such grasses and weeds as need considerable 

 light for their development. 



Fourth. Try some planting in the open places in the 

 woods. Sowing seeds suffices in some cases; in others small 

 seedlings are set out to best advantage. But keep ever in 

 mind that in the ideally managed woodland the axe is gener- 

 ally the only planting tool needed, paradoxical as this may 

 seem. If the owner is skillful in so thinning out his trees as 

 to incite those left standing into seed-bearing by the stimulus 

 of the light admitted, and if he has so managed that the soil 

 is in good shape to make a seed bed for receiving the seeds 

 as they fall, nature will generally do the rest. Only the ac- 

 cidentally-failed places need then be planted or sown arti- 

 ficially. 



Fifth. Harvest carefully. When a tree is ripe for the 

 purpose for which you want it, cut it. But in doing so have 

 some regard for the younger trees around it, which are to take 

 its place, and save them as much as possible. More or less 

 of the young growth is bound to be killed or injured, but 

 much can be done by care and skill to reduce such injury to a 

 minimum. 



Sixth. Keep a wind mantle around the woodland; that is, 

 a narrow strip where the trees are left standing very close to- 

 gether. This is of great benefit in preventing the drying out 

 of the soil by wind. The moisture conditions of the soil are 

 more important to forest growth than its chemical make-up. 



Seventh. Use some care in cutting those trees from the 

 stumps of which vigorous sprouts are wanted. Make a 

 smooth cut, so that the bark is not torn from the wood, and 

 the formation of the sprout thus injured. Slant the cut down- 



