THIXXIXG. 7 5 



thinning lias been too long neglected, and should at once 

 be performed, unless, indeed, hopelessly too long de- 

 layed. And, on the other hand, if the girth is too 

 great for the heierht, thinnings has been carried too far, 

 and done too severely. These are the best and safest 

 rules I have found for the guidance of thinnmg opera- 

 tions, as applicable to all pine and fir plantations of 

 every sort, whether whole or mixed, but are specially 

 applicable to larch as an unmixed crop. Any attempt 

 at perfect regularity in marking for thinning should 

 be avoided during any of the various courses of early 

 thinning. It is not only unnecessary, but is also im- 

 practicable. If, for example, a plantation is planted 

 at 4 feet g inches apart, or say, 2000 trees per acre, 

 when thinning is commenced, the crop could not be 

 again regular till one from between each two trees 

 had been taken out, thus leaving not 1000 trees per 

 acre upon the ground, but only about 600. Though 

 it is theoretically desirable that the trees be regularly 

 distributed all over the ground, it is nevertheless im- 

 practicable, and any undue effort made to attain this 

 end will result in disappointment and loss. 



Neither is it necessary that the trees be all of one 

 size. To attempt this would also be vain and fruitless; 

 for it would imply, in the first place, that the seedling 

 plants were all of equal strength and size in the nur- 

 sery ground, and that every future influence exercised 

 upon them was precisely of the same kind. It would 

 also necessitate the soils upon which the plants are 

 growing to be all alike, and of equal quality at every 



