344 The Ruffed Grouse 



the intervening cover (Edminster, 1934). Slashings (used here to 

 mean small clear-cut units) cut specifically to improve the grouse 

 habitat provide better food conditions by permitting sunlight to 

 reach the ground and develop a suitable herbaceous and shrubby 

 cover ( see Plate 46 ) . As has already been noted, such cuttings may 

 also improve shelter conditions in areas deficient in conifers or other 

 evergreens. They may be handled in a system of imits cut in rotation. 



In planning the location for a system of game slashings, the deter- 

 mining factors to be observed are: (1) Space the units about six 

 hundred feet apart, or from natural openings, for ideal distribu- 

 tion. (2) Cuttings are best when next to two or more other types 

 of cover. ( 3 ) Sites with good fertility will grow a good bushy vege- 

 tation cover quickly, while the poorer soils will return to wood- 

 land slowly. Therefore the units in the poorer soils will require less 

 upkeep cost. ( 4 ) Where possible they should be located conveniently 

 to the woods road system in such manner that the wood products 

 may be removed on skid trails running along the contour, thereby 

 reducing erosion. (5) Steep slopes should be avoided. 



The units should be no larger than necessary to accomplish the 

 objective. One-quarter acre to one acre is usually adequate. The 

 cutting of the unit should be done so as to take advantage of the 

 natural features of the area. Avoid clumps of conifers but cut the 

 margin close to them. Leave seed trees of good food and shelter 

 species. Make the shape irregular, thereby providing more edge. 



The maintenance of such a system of openings may be accom- 

 plished by the repeated cutting back of the area. This eliminates a 

 useful wood crop after the first cutting. An alternative is to allow 

 each unit to grow into cordwood before cutting, and rotate in a 

 series with other contiguous units. The latter method requires more 

 area to be devoted to this use, but it is better forestry practice. Each 

 unit is cut at the pole stage, usually twenty to thirty years old. The 

 cutting time of the several units is staggered five to ten years apart 

 so that the series consumes the entire rotation period. The length 

 of usefulness of a game clearing depends upon the fertility of the 

 site and upon the species that prevailed before cutting. Generally a 

 fertile site will lose its opening value in about eight to ten years; 

 poor soil sites last longer. The best gauge is the vegetation itself. 

 When the brambles, pin cherry, and similar pioneer plants are elimi- 

 nated, the site is no longer of much value as a summer-fall food area. 



