Some Aspects of European Forestry. 327 



soil cover and does not affect the competition in the crowns of 

 the trees. 



Thinnings from above, on the contrary, aim to pick the winners 

 in the crown competition and to give them every advantage by 

 cutting the less valuable trees which are apt to cause them dam- 

 age. No regard is paid to trees already suppressed, ie. no longer 

 in the dominant crown class. 



How does this work out in the practice? 



Assuming a forest of oak and beech, the result of natural 

 regeneration as described above, if no thinnings are made at 

 all, the more rapid growth of the beech will result in the gradual 

 suppression of the oak. The final result will be a nearly pure 

 forest of beech. This is also true if, regardless of species, the 

 principles of thinnings from below are applied; for the oaks 

 being of slower growth will be the first to be suppressed and, 

 hence, to be removed from the stand ; but in thinning from above 

 the trees of the future, — i.e. the sturdiest oaks are favored 

 throughout, even at the sacrifice of larger beeches, and thus the 

 percentage of oak is steadily increased while the suppressed trees 

 serve as a valuable ground cover and protection from the growth 

 of weeds, grass and briars. 



Two phases of these methods must not be overlooked. In 

 choosing the trees of the future a new choice has to be made at 

 each time of thinning; for it is impossible, as experience has 

 shown, to foresee all the eventualities in the life of the stand. 

 This fact in no way lessens the efficiency of the method. The 

 other phase is that the isolation of the "chosen ones" must 

 not be pushed to an extreme but the continuity of the crown cover 

 always maintained. It is interesting to note, finally, that the 

 thinnings from below often result in adventitious shoots on the 

 suppressed and crowded stems while the trees whose crowns are 

 free have no need for such desperate measures. 



The following figures serve most interestingly to compare 

 the results of the different methods; a non-thinned area being 

 added for the sake of comparison : 



