64 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



forty-five years would be none too long to produce 

 timber of this size. Such, cultural methods are 

 worth while and are being adopted by progressive land- 

 owners in this country. Among the methods of man- 

 aging the forest and increasing its growth "improve- 

 ment cuttings " ranks as one of the most important. 

 By improvement cuttings, we mean removal of timber 

 from immature stands for the purpose of hastening 

 growth, reducing competition, and improving the mix- 

 ture of trees in the forest. In some cases cuttings may 

 be made in stands of small sprouts where the material 

 is too small to pay for the cost of removal, but such 

 cuttings, or cleanings, as they are called, are hardly 

 practicable in the United States, on account of the 

 high labor cost and the comparatively low value re- 

 ceived for timber. In fact cleanings may cost from one 

 dollar and fifty cents to three dollars per acre. 



Under the average conditions in this country it is 

 advisable to allow a young forest to grow untouched 

 until the trees are large enough to pay for the cost of 

 removal. Then a thinning can be made which will re- 

 move competing trees, defective and diseased specimens 

 and "weed trees," as the species of no commercial value 

 are called. The trees of desirable species remaining 

 upon the ground receive more light, more food and 

 moisture and consequently commence to grow much 

 faster. For instance, in our Eastern forests such trees 

 as ash, basswood, tulip, poplar, red oak, etc., are gen- 

 erally favored over the slower-growing and less desirable 

 beech, maple, black oak, horn beam (forest weeds), etc. 

 Rapid-growing conifers like pine and spruce are to be 

 preferred to the slower-growing and less valuable species, 

 like hemlock and white cedar, although in each case the 

 kind of soil must control the species to be favored. 



