214 REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



fcict that otiier trees, if properly protected in tlie first years of their 

 existence, become less sensitive to winter cold the older and stronger 

 they grow and the better the last year's shoots have ripened. Thus by 

 placing the tender conifers, like Cryptonieria, JVellingtonia, Cary- 

 otaxus, &.C., among surrounding quick-growing and densely-foliaged 

 pines, astonishing results may be secured. By placing the firs, most 

 of which are liable to injury by late frosts, in such a manner that the 

 rays of the morning sun in spring do not directly bear upon them, 

 especially on northern or western exposures, these may be propagated 

 in climes in which otherwise they would not be considered hardy. It 

 must not be forgotten that trees which in single individuals fail to 

 answer to our climate may, when planted in forest and grouped with 

 other kinds, very well sustain themselves. Yet, excepting for experi- 

 ment, it will be well for the present to rely for forest culture mainly on 

 well-proved, hardy plants, and to give the preference to native kinds. 



FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



While we are, perhaps, still far from the time of systematic forest 

 management in this country, yet the statement of the requirements 

 of such management may not be untimely, as showing how difficult it 

 will be to effect any change in our present methods. The creation of 

 a young forest can be effected either by artificial or natural means ; 

 the latter where nature has provided the original forest growth. 

 The methods employed have reference principally to the capacity of 

 trees to reproduce themselves either by shoots from the mother stocks 

 (stumps) ov else from seed of the mature trees. The former method 

 is called 



COPPICE MANAGEMENT. 



It is employed for the production of firewood, tan-bark, charcoal, and 

 wood of small dimensions, and is mostly applicable only to deciduous 

 trees. The capacity of reproduction from the stump is possessed by 

 different species in different degrees, and depends also on climate and 

 soil ; shallow soil produces weaker but more numerous shoots than a 

 deep, rich soil, and a mild climate is most favorable to a continuance 

 of the reproductive power. With most trees this capacity decreases 

 after the period of greatest height-growth; they should therefore 

 be cut before the thirtieth year, in order not to exhaust the stocks 

 too much. The oak coppices for tan-bark are managed in a rotation of 

 from ten to twenty years. Regard to the preservation of reproductiv- 

 ity makes it necessary to avoid cutting during heavy frost, to make 

 a smooth cut without severing the bark from the stem, and to make it 

 as low as possible; thus reducing liability to injuries of the stump 

 and inducing the formation of independent roots by the sprouts. 



It will be found often that on poor and shallow soil trees will cease 

 to thrive, their tops dying. In such cases it is a wise policy to cut 

 them down, thus getting new, thrifty shoots, for which the larger root 

 system of the old tree can more readily provide. This practice may 

 also be resorted to in order to get a quick, straight growth, as sprouts 

 grow more rapidly than seedlings, the increased proportion of root to 

 the part above ground giving more favorable conditions of food sup- 

 ply. It must not be forgotten, however, that this advantage has to be 

 compensated somewhere else by a disadvantage; sprouts, though 

 growing fast in their youth, cease to grow in height at a compara- 

 tively early period, and for the production of long timber such prac- 

 tice would be detrimental. 



