SOME ASPECTS OF THE EXCURSION TO GERMANY. 194 
ground if the old stools were left to form a harbour in which they 
would multiply and spread. In the course of three or four years 
after clearing, the ground is planted with six-inch spruce plants, 
three feet or so apart, and frequently in bunches of three or four 
in each. The system of bunch-planting has been adopted in 
districts frequented by browsing animals, so that if most of the 
leading shoots are nibbled, one, at least, may chance to escape. 
Another advantage is, that in wide planting the side branches are 
suppressed at an earlier stage than would be the case if plants 
were put in singly, and thus clean stems free from large knots are 
produced. On the other hand, when all but one stem are cut 
away, decay is apt to spread from the decomposing roots into those 
of the tree that has been left, and there is thus a tendency for the 
latter to be affected with rot in the stem. As the stem enlarges 
and presses, or grows into the stumps of those cut away before 
they have decayed, an abrasion at the base of the stem is likely to 
be caused which might tend to generate heart-rot, or at any rate 
cause a defect in the timber. Upon the whole, it is a system not 
to be recommended, and it is one gradually losing favour with 
those who have practised it. 
On the higher limits of the Harz, where it is necessary to 
protect the soil from winds and from being washed away by rains, 
melted snow, etc., no clear felling is practised, but the selection 
system of working is adopted. The procedure is, where the 
area is divided into blocks, to cut out diseased, dead, or dying 
trees, and such others as may have become matured, periodically 
in each. 
In the spaces formed by these removals, a portion of the surface 
is broken up so as to form a suitable seed-bed for seed falling 
from adjacent trees, or failing that, for artificially-sown seed, or 
otherwise for transplants that may be used instead. The growth 
of these, owing to the necessarily narrow limits in which they 
exist, will be restricted, and it is therefore necessary to partially 
open up, by thinning those surrounding the plot, in order to 
stimulate their growth. 
The uneven-aged selection system, which is practically the 
same as that just noticed, is worked at a lower elevation, and 
is typical of the primeval forest growth. That is to say, when 
matured or diseased trees are removed, others, either naturally 
or artificially introduced, spring up, and as trees of all ages cover 
the ground, an uneven-aged wood is the result. Owing to soil, 
VOL. XIV. PART III. P 
