THE NEW FORESTRY. 1/5 



CHAPTER XIV. 

 CROPS FROM OLD STOOLS. 



Poles. - Coppice. Underwood. 

 SECTION I. POLES. 



NEARLY all the broad-leaved species of forest trees produce 

 shoots or suckers from old stools notably the oak, elm, ash, 

 sycamore, alder, and Spanish chestnut ; but the reproductive 

 power depends upon the age and vigour of the stool. Taking 

 the oak, for example, one of the most productive from the 

 stool, old trees in which the annual growth has become feeble, 

 and the heart-wood extends nearly to the bark, leaving the 

 sap-wood layer thin, rarely push strongly from the stool, and 

 many -such stools never push at all. Reproduction in such 

 cases should be made by sowing or planting, and no depen- 

 dence placed on the stools. On the other hand, stools of 

 trees that have been felled in the flush of vigour, always 

 indicated by a broad layer of white sap-wood, reproduce 

 strong shoots quickly that form a plantation much quicker 

 than plants do under the most favourable circumstances. 

 Timber crops that are thriving are, however, better left than 

 felled, because they are laying on timber and value much 

 quicker than a second crop of trees from the stools would 

 do for a long time to come, the increment in all plantations 

 increasing with the size and age of the trees. These remarks 

 refer chiefly to crops that are clear cut In mixed woods 

 which have to be thinned there are always crops of suckers 

 coming up more or less from the old stools, and these, if 

 looked after and properly regulated, soon re-stock a wood, 

 but, as a rule, the stools are neglected or the young shoots 

 are eaten down by rabbits as fast as they grow up, and the 

 crop is lost. We have, however, occasionally seen fine crops 

 of poles from stools, the number of poles to a stool averaging 

 from three to four. When a stool crop is expected the trees 

 should be cleanly felled close to the ground when the sap is 

 down in winter, as if felled in spring some species bleed 

 freely. Tending and thinning of stool crops is the same as 

 in young plantations. See Plate No. 7. 



