54 Forestry Quarterly. 



up bunches of suckers. Groups of from two to ten trees of 

 maple, birch, basswood, or in fact nearly any species of hard- 

 woods, can be frequently found growing from the same root. It 

 is common in the woods to see four or five basswood trees thus 

 situated, each more than a foot in diameter. To be sure, such 

 shoots from stumps or root are generally short lived, but they 

 take up the light space, and live long enough to produce seed. 

 To replace a softwood tree that is taken from the forest, another 

 must be grown from the seed ; but when a hardwood tree is re- 

 moved, many may spring from the root. 



In case of fire, the hardwoods, as is well known, have the ad- 

 vantage. The softwoods are more open in structure of wood, 

 have thin bark, especially when young, and are resinous and 

 hence more easily burned. The hardwoods are not easily burned. 

 They are so resistant that a belt of hardwoods is often planted as 

 a protection to the softwood forest. 



Since the hardwoods have the natural advantages mentioned, 

 it is evident that if the softwoods are to be maintained or increased 

 in the forest, they must receive artificial advantages. In a mixed 

 forest such advantage might be given by the removal of the hard- 

 woods, leaving the softwoods. This could be done only gradually, 

 for with a rapid removal of hardwoods the softwoods would be 

 overturned by the wind. It is well known, however, that trees 

 adapt themselves to changed conditions when these are brought 

 about gradually, and with a gradual removal of the hardwoods 

 the softwoods would send their roots deeper and become wind 

 firm. 



Hardwoods, however, are difficult to remove. They are heavy 

 to handle, and since they float only with difficulty they cannot be 

 sent down the streams. It is only near large cities where fire- 

 wood is in great demand that the market is strong. Even if they 

 were removed, as the softwoods are very choice of seed bed, the 

 latter would not be reproduced sufficiently without special 

 preparation of the soil. With such preparation of the soil it 

 would not be necessary to depend entirely upon the seed trees 

 upon the ground, but seed might be collected from other trees and 

 sown in the forest. 



Perhaps the best artifical advantage that can be given to the 

 softwoods is to raise them in nurseries from the seed, and trans- 



