ON PLANTING DISTANCES FOR CONIFERS. 23 



What proprietor then would wilHngly plant 4500 Japanese larch 

 or Douglas fir to the acre, when he knows for certain that in 

 fifteen years at least half of these will be dead, having yielded 

 little if any return ? A saving of 50 per cent, in plants, without 

 appreciably affecting the ultimate crop, it is surely impossible 

 to ignore. 



Coming now to the next period, after the canopy has closed : — 



1. With open planting, cleaning out of dead trees is dispensed 

 with. 



2. There is a more favourable rate of interest with open 

 planting, because the increase in increment is on a smaller 

 capital. (Scots pine excepted.) 



3. With most species, owing to more rapid growth and to the 

 timber reaching a greater size at an earlier age, a shorter 

 rotation is possible. 



4. A smaller staff is necessary for tending the open woods. 



5. In close planting, with some species the expense of remov- 

 ing the lower branches is less. 



6. With species yielding small thinnings of value, such as 

 larch, a very useful early, monetary return is secured with close 

 planting — financially, the earlier the better. This only applies 

 to easily accessible districts. 



7. With certain species the value of the timber as pit-wood 

 is increased by close planting to some extent. For big timber 

 the improvement is of little consequence, provided that care is 

 taken to remove the dead branches in open woods by early 

 pruning. 



Summary. 



From a purely silvicultural standpoint, close spacing is better 

 owing to the benefits to timber and to soil, and also to the 

 fact that by natural selection the stronger individuals survive. 

 It also leaves the forester considerable choice when he comes 

 to thin the woods. Unless the wood is grown on a very short 

 rotation, say thirty years, solely for pit-wood, close planting must 

 always be followed by an opening out of the crop, because for 

 all species except pine, an open position gives greater volume 

 without increasing the taper. Nevertheless, spacing up to 5 feet 

 for pine and up to 8 feet for Douglas fir, Japanese larch, and 

 Sitka spruce, is permissible, since the canopy will close within 

 a reasonable time. It is, therefore, from the financial viewpoint, 



