92 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



"•Modifications of the Clear-cutting Method. — Modifications in 

 application of the method, outside of changes in details, which 

 are expected of each species and locality, affect principally the 

 portion of the stand which is cut clear at one time. Depending 

 upon whether the timber is removed in one or more operations, 

 and upon the relative size, shape, and locality of the portions 

 cut in a single operation, the clear-cutting method may be 

 classified as : — clear-cutting the whole stand, clear-cutting in 

 strips, clear-cutting in patches." 



The Selection Method. 



" According to the principle of the selection method, the 

 oldest or largest trees in a stand are chosen for cutting and the 

 remainder left. In theory the oldest age-class is cut each 

 year, the next oldest removed in the following year and so on 

 indefinitely. In practice, certain changes in this theory are 

 demanded from both the logical and silvicultural standpoints. 

 The annual working of the whole area to secure a small cut per 

 acre makes logging relatively expensive. Seed trees do not 

 produce seed every year, and seedlings have difficulty in 

 becoming firmly established when the area is cut over each 

 year. To avoid these difficulties, what is known as a cutting 

 cycle is established. Under this scheme, the entire forest area 

 is not cut over each year, but it is divided into certain distinct 

 stands. The cutting in a given area is restricted to one of these 

 stands, and cuttings in successive years progress from one stand 

 to another, finally returning to the first." 



'■'■Application of the Selection Method. — In European countries 

 the selection method finds favour principally for use on sites 

 where a protection forest is needed. Switzerland has a higher 

 percentage of protection forests than have other countries. Her 

 statistics indicate that 35 per cent, of the total forest areas and 

 two-thirds of the forests in the Alpine district are handled under 

 the selection method." 



" Over-maturity of timber and too great a preponderance of 

 the older age-classes present great difficulties to the immediate 

 use of selection in many forests, where eventually it may be the 

 most desirable method. Besides its general employment on 

 protection sites which will come in time, the selection method 

 should be favoured by farmers holding small areas of woodland, 

 and by owners with whom aesthetic motive is prominent. The 



