io8 Forestry Quarterly 



plan, but in practice there is a loss of time which even the vigor- 

 ous sprout growth can scarcely make up. Where land is valua- 

 ble and stock and labor cheap such expedients really save noth- 

 ing. A plan often followed on the better soil is to lease the 

 patch to be planted to a peasant who cultivates the land and 

 plants a crop of potatoes or turnips : when that is harvested he 

 cultivates again and plants winter grain. After that crop is 

 taken off, the land is again cultivated, and in the fall of the sec- 

 ond year trees are set out. In the third spring the land is again 

 worked, and another crop of tubers raised between the rows of 

 trees. After that is harvested the forester takes over the plan- 

 tation and cares for it. As a rule, the lessee pays no other rent 

 than the labor he puts upon the land. 



The first work of the forester is usually to cut back each seed- 

 ling to the root collar in order to produce strong, vigorous shoots. 

 This is done in the spring following the planting. 



In most districts thinnings are begun when the plantation is 

 five years old, and repeated at intervals of five years. Sometimes, 

 naturally where the planting is closer, the thinning is done at in- 

 tervals of three years. This is usually the practice in all sprout 

 stands. Fortunately, material of very small size is salable. Fel- 

 lings are commonly made in fall and early winter. 



The treatment of second-growth sprout forest differs from that 

 of seedlings only in the beginning. The mature trees are never 

 felled in the ordinary way, but their roots are cut off below the 

 surface of the ground and the tree toppled over. This plan makes 

 the stump available at once, and keeps the ground clear, but, 

 more important, it enables the sprouts that are to form the new 

 crop to start from the roots instead of from the stump, and thus 

 be strong and vigorous. In some cases the hole left by the old 

 stump is partially filled up ; in others it is left to collect sand and 

 litter, blown in by the wind. When the crown of sprouts is a 

 year old, all but the stoutest two are commonly cut off, though 

 sometimes all are left to grow for two years, and the cuttings used 

 for vine stakes. 



The plantations naturally vary in quality and rate of growth ; 

 sometimes a poor development is ascribed to the soil, sometimes 

 to the want of proper care. It is everywhere evident that even 

 the Locust needs cultivation in so unfavorable a situation if trees, 

 not bushes, are to be produced. The Hungarian forester has 

 learned that in his work "what is worth doing, is worth doing 



