336 The Ruffed Grouse 



of openings and brushy cover was accompHshed mainly by main- 

 taining favorably located portions of the overgrown fields, opening 

 up a woods road system, and devoting a narrow strip along each to 

 the production of wood products requiring frequent cutting. Along 

 the south boundary the property line was cleared as a part of the 

 road system. 



As a result of these changes we find that the proportions as well 

 as the arrangement of the cover types have changed materially. 

 Brushy cover has dropped to nineteen per cent but is much better 

 scattered; hardwood stands have decreased to forty-two per cent, 

 while conifers are finally only thirteen per cent. The great improve- 

 ment in shelter came by the change to the mixed woods type, now 

 composing twenty-six per cent of the area. This, with the stands 

 of evergreens, makes a total of thirty-nine per cent of adequate 

 shelter. 



One of the best indexes of improved conditions for grouse is the 

 increase in interior edge between cover types (only one side of 

 woods road openings are counted). In this case we had fifty-eight 

 thousand feet of interior type edge at the start, and at the comple- 

 tion of the change two hundred and one thousand feet, an increase 

 of three hundred and forty-six per cent. 



INTERPLANTING OF CONIFERS 



Changes in the woodland are ordinarily brought about by remov- 

 ing trees and planting trees. The former is generally the more im- 

 portant. Planting within a woodland is often unsatisfactory, and is 

 definitely limited in application. When extensive hardwood areas 

 exist that are seriously deficient in shelter, the underplanting or in- 

 terplanting of tolerant conifers may be advisable. Areas of open land 

 abandoned and overgrown with natural reproduction of hardwoods 

 may often be interplanted to advantage with conifers (see Plate 

 42). The need for that type of improvement must be judged in the 

 light of the probability of natural regeneration of these species. If 

 seed trees of desirable species are lacking, there is little likelihood 

 of natural establishment in the predictable future. In such areas 

 planting is necessary if coniferous shelter is to be had. 



So far as practicable, plantings should be confined to open areas, 

 i.e., fields in herbaceous cover, or sparse, young, woody reproduc- 



