64 FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 



radical measures hard to execute, neither does it mean that all 

 cutting shall cease. Simple methods easy of application will ac- 

 complish the purpose. Assuming that the growth has reached 

 a size suitable to be cut and that the fire danger is duly guarded 

 against, the condition of the woods can be improved by regulat- 

 ing the grazing and by proper thinnings. 



The pasturing of the farm stock in the woods should be care- 

 fully regulated and if a young growth of trees is starting or if 

 the owner wishes to have such growth start no stock whatever 

 should be permitted to graze in them. 



When any cutting is done care should be taken to thin out the 

 undesirable growth and improve the composition of the stand. 

 Instead of selecting the best trees and those which produce wood 

 that splits easily, the crooked, rotting, scarred, and broken top- 

 ped trees, those which are crowding the good trees or are over- 

 topped by them, and those of poor quality should be taken as a 

 general thing. It is rarely possible to remove all of the undesir- 

 able growth in the first thinning and the cuttings should be so 

 planned as to make several rather light thinnings. By making 

 repeated thinnings there is less danger of exposing the soil to the 

 drying action of the sun and wind and this is an important point 

 to be remembered with all thinnings, for when the soil becomes 

 dried out too much the trees grow slower instead of faster. At 

 times portions of the woodlot get into such a state as the result 

 of unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances that it makes 

 more or less extensive cutting imperative. When such condi- 

 tions arise as the result, for example, of windfall, the thing to 

 do is to make the best of a bad situation and utilize the material 

 in the best possible manner. In selecting the trees to be cut at- 

 tention is given not only to the quality of the trees to be left but 

 to their ability to properly shade the groimd. With a species 

 having naturally a very open top or crown like the birches and 

 poplars, a much lighter thinning would have to be made than 

 in a stand of beech or a mixed stand of hardwoods. The kind 

 of trees in the woodlot makes a difference therefore in the num- 

 ber of trees to be removed. Although several factors must be 

 taken into account in making thinnings for the improvement of 

 the woodlot, it really comes down to the matter of exercising a 

 little good judgment and the results attained will be well worth 

 the effort. 



