CUTTING III 
produce the Spruce as well as the hardwoods in groups. 
There is a very large amount of unsound and worth- 
less timber in the forest at Ne-Ha-Sa-Ne, and one of 
the aims of the forester should be to increase the pro- 
portion of the valuable species and to bring the forest 
into sound condition. The land should be made to pro- 
duce only sound individuals of valuable species. This 
condition is far in the future, it is true, but the forester 
should have it constantly in mind. With this ultimate 
aim in view, and with the knowledge gained of the 
capacity of the Spruce under present conditions and of 
its silvicultural character, we are in a position to dis- 
cuss the immediate treatment of the forest and the 
principles that should govern the cutting. No detailed 
rules, but only general ones, can be laid down, because 
the conditions vary with each individual case. 
The application of such general rules to specific cases 
is the province of the forester. The imperative need 
of this skillful adaptation is the fundamental reason 
why rules of thumb, such as a rigid limit of twelve 
inches, cannot safely be put in force, and why the mark- 
ing of trees to fall must be done by some one well 
versed in the requirements of the forest. 
There are certain localities where the cutting of 
Spruce should be very heavy and where everything mer- 
chantable should be removed. These places are on thin 
rocky ground and exposed situations, where the danger 
from windfall is very great, and where, in the event 
of a partial cut, the uprooting of the remaining trees by 
wind would be inevitable. Such areas should be chosen 
