442 Forestry Quarterly. 



45 years ; Linden to 70 years ; Birch to 50 years ; Acacia to 50 

 years ; Hornbeam to 50 years ; Scotch Pine to 60 years. 



The coppice consists mainly of stump sprouts of all the above 

 species, except, of course, Scotch Pine, and in addition Hazel and 

 White Alder, but nearly every European species is to be found. 



This coppice is treated generally under a rotation of 20 years 

 and at the end of that period has a volume of about 60 cubic 

 meters per hectare (858 cubic feet per acre) and the standards 

 have then a volume of about double that amount, a total volume 

 of about 180 cubic meters per hectare (2,575 cubic feet per acre). 

 When fellings are made the whole of the coppice is first cut over, 

 and then 67 to 70 cubic meters (one-half the volume) of the stand- 

 ards are removed in the following manner: First, unsound trees 

 are selected; secondly, groups are broken up when the trees are 

 too close together ; and lastly, trees which are ripe for the axe, ac- 

 cording to the ages mentioned above for the different species, are 

 felled. 



Now, the ground in these forests appears to be perfectly level, 

 but this is not really the case. The ground level although alter- 

 ing but slightly here plays an extremely important part. The 

 water is in nearly every case quite near the surface, but a rise of 

 a few meters entirely changes the character of the soil, and hence 

 the great variety of species to be found growing in such close 

 proximity. 



We may divide these forests into 6 site classes varying from 

 a quite wet to an extremely dry soil as follows: i. Quite wet soil 

 (producing Black Alder and Willow) ; 2. Moist soil (producing 

 Poplar and Ash) ; 3. Fresh soil (producing Oak, Elm, Ash, 

 Linden and Poplar) ; 4. Rather dry soil (producing Acacia and 

 Hornbeam) ; 5. Dry soil (producing Aspen and Hornbeam) ; 6, 

 Very dry soil (producing Birch and Scotch Pine). 



As is not uncommon in forestry our ideas as to the treatment of 

 these forests have changed considerably from those formerly ac- 

 cepted. At one time planting in Middle Forests was not even at- 

 tempted, and it was said that we got quite enough young growth 

 by natural regeneration. Then from this extreme, foresters flew 

 to the other till the planting was greatly exaggerated. The system 

 now generally adopted is the most rational one, based on the ideas 

 of Forstmeister Hamm, formerly Oberforster at Kippenheim. 



