216 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTURE. 



for the standards; tlie selection for siicli should naturally be from the 

 best grown straight trees. The number of standards to be held over 

 for timber depends upon the species and upon the amount of under- 

 growth which the forester desires to secure. The shadier and the 

 more numerous the standards, the more will the growth of the cop- 

 pice be suppressed. * From a first plantation one would naturally 

 be inclined to reserve and hold over all the well-grown valuable saj)- 

 lings. The coppice is of course treated as described above. 



I have mentioned before that on account of the free enjoyment of 

 light which the standards have they not only develop latrger diam- 

 eters, but also furnish quicker-grown wood (which in deciduous trees is 

 the best) and bear seed earlier, by which the reproduction of the forest 

 from the stump is supplemented and assisted. Any failing plantation 

 of mixed growth, consisting of trees capable of reproduction by cop- 

 pice, may be recuperated by cutting the larger part back to the stump, 

 and reserving only the most promising trees for standards. 



If equally well-grown coppice and standards are desired, a regu- 

 lar distribution of the standards, mostly of the light-needing, thin- 

 foliaged kinds, should be made; if prominence is given to the pro- 

 duction of useful sizes, the standards may be held over in groups and 

 irregularly distributed specimens, in which case those of the shade- 

 enduring kinds are best in groups. 



The specific api)lication of this method of management for Western 

 practice has been outlined in my report on Western Tree Planting. 



THE TIMBER FOREST, 



in which it is proposed to grow trees to full maturity for lumber, 

 is reproduced entirely by seed or by planting nursery-grown or forest- 

 grown seedlings. European practice, with its intensive methods of 

 management, necessitated by a crowded population and with its ten- 

 dency to routine and stereotyped procedure, has developed a form 

 of management which prescribes a clearing of the grown forest and 

 its reproduction by artificial planting, (seeding only where, with less 

 dense population, a small supply of labor or other local peculiarities 

 recommend it) ; a method which has elicited the admiration of our 

 writers on forestry and our pleasure-seekers abroad, but which must 

 be condemned as being contrary to nature and the best interest of the 

 forest, not being a product of the observance of natural laws, but a 

 child of seeming financial necessity. The simplicity of the method 

 recommends it; but desiccation, deterioration of the forest soil, 

 enormous increase of insect pests on the large sun-warmed clearings 

 which the young planted seedlings are insufficient to protect against 

 the drying influences of sun and wind for a number of years, and 

 other dangers from wind and disease, with the production of less valua- 

 ble wood (excepting perhaps with conifers), have been the result of 

 these uniform growths. There are but few foresters abroad willing to 

 admit their mistake, most of them clinging to the sim23le prescriptions 

 of clearing with consequent planting, blinding themselves to the detri- 

 mental consequences, or j)atching them up as best they may. It is 



_ * The cover which trees make at different ages varies of course with species and 

 site, and therefore a general rule cannot be established. From manv measurements 

 of deciduous trees in Germany it was found that tlie average extent of branches of 

 trees 30 years old covered about 40 square feet ; of 60 years old. about 12G square feet; 

 of 90 years old, about 263 square feet; of 120 years old, about 448 square feet; and 

 of 150 years old, about 686 square feet; making the number of trees possible with 

 full freedom of crown at the respective ages 1,089, 345, 166, 97, 63 per acre. 



