702 Forestry Quarterly. 



production are therefore the control of the relation of crown 

 density to the amount of precipitation which is allowed to reach 

 the ground, as this relation determines the humidity of the soil 

 and consequently the appearance and development of natural re- 

 production. This relation, however, is not the same for the ap- 

 pearance of natural reproduction and for its further development. 

 Wagner proposes, therefore, a silvicultural method of cutting 

 under which natural reproduction appears under the shelter of un- 

 evenly thinned stands and its further development proceeds on a 

 narrow strip entirely clear of trees but shaded on one side. The 

 central idea in Wagner's method is to locate the cuttings in 

 optimum conditions of humidity by giving them a definite direc- 

 tion and form. This method of cutting he calls "Blendersaum- 

 schlag," that is, selection cutting in narrow strips, and to the dis- 

 cussion of this method of cutting, he devotes the greater part of 

 his book. 



Wagner's method of cutting is extremely simple. On the edge 

 of a forest which is to be cut over and reproduced a narrow strip 

 of timber is cut out. Adjoining this narrow strip another strip 

 is laid out on which the timber is thinned out not uniformly over 

 the entire strip. Gradually, as natural reproduction appears on 

 the clear cut and thinned strips, the timber remaining on the 

 thinned strip is cut off and another strip adjoining the last one is 

 laid out on which the timber is again unevenly thinned out. In 

 this manner the cuttings are moved gradually more and more into 

 the interior of the untouched stand. The strips on which natural 

 reproduction has taken place are gradually freed of all timber. 

 The timber is being felled in the direction of uncut area and not 

 toward the area that has been naturally reproduced. The width 

 of each strip is narrow and the cuttings are done at very short 

 intervals. The author pays a great deal of attention to the direc- 

 tion of the cutting areas and considers the compass as one of the 

 most necessary instruments in laying out the cutting areas. By 

 means of a whole series of very ingenious schemes the author 

 analyzes all possible directions of cutting under which the optimum 

 conditions of the soil humidity may be secured. He believes that 

 the commonly accepted direction of the cuttings from east to 

 west has many disadvantages. The easterly and westerly orien- 

 tation of the cuttings does not protect natural reproduction against 



