264 Forestry Quarterly. 



where it is impossible to use the strip system the selection system 

 must be adopted. The aim should be either to thin the stand very 

 lightly with the object of making the remaining trees more wind 

 firm and allow a second cutting at an early date or to remove all 

 the mature and undesirable trees and thus leave only enough trees 

 to form the basis of a future cut. Between these two extremes 

 there are many graduations and the method to be used depends 

 upon local conditions entirely. The main point to be considered 

 is wind-firmness, seed production being a secondary consideration. 



On the Targhee Forest Douglas fir is the best timber tree and 

 should be favored against other species on sites favorable to its 

 growth. Where lodgepole and Douglas fir grow in mixture it is 

 recommended that all merchantable lodgepole be marked for cut- 

 ting and only such fir trees as are defective and over-mature. 

 In marking fir on its own sites we should approach as near im- 

 provement cutting as local conditions will permit. 



Engleman spruce should be encouraged wherever it grows better 

 than other species in mixture. The aim should be to remove over- 

 mature, suppressed and defective trees with a view to improving 

 the stand. The soil should be protected from drying out and the 

 trees left so spaced as to reduce windfall to a minimum. 



In marking yellow pine, forest conditions should not be dis- 

 turbed more than is necessary, and only the mature and defective 

 trees should be removed. Openings should be avoided and suffi- 

 cient seed trees should be left to insure reproduction. 



On account of fire danger the method to be followed in dispos- 

 ing of brush resulting from logging operations is of great im- 

 portance. There are three different methods of brush disposal : 



( 1 ) Piling and burning. 



(2) Piling and not burning. 



(3) Lopping and scattering. 



The first method seems advisable where fire danger is great. 

 However, to burn brush means that about four or five per cent, of 

 the area will be burned over with the possibility that some of the 

 stand will be injured, besides the certainty of destroying all the 

 seedlings on the burned spot. The second method obviates these 

 disadvantages, while the third is particularly applicable where the 

 fire danger is small. Brush cover is of decided value in preserv- 

 ing soil moisture and in lessening damage from early frosts. Re- 

 production is generally good around the edges of brush piles. 



