140 A MANUAL OF FORESTRY, 



iv. DISTRIBUTION OF THE YIELD. 



If forest trees were in the habit of producing seed 

 regularly every year, arrangements might be made to 

 place annually a suitable area into the seeding stage, and 

 thus distribute the cuttings equally over successive years. 

 As, however, most forest trees produce abundant seed 

 only after irregular intervals, it is necessary to take full 

 advantage of every such opportunity and then to bring 

 as large an area as possible into the seeding stage. If 

 no preparatory cuttings had been made, such a treatment 

 would lead to an excessive yield in every seed year, and 

 little or no yield in other years. Hence preparatory cut- 

 tings fulfil the further duty of assisting in the proper 

 distribution of the yield. 



v. NUMBER AND CHARACTER OF CUTTINGS. 



Whether the preparatory stage should comprise one 

 or several cuttings cannot be determined beforehand ; it 

 depends on the circumstances of each case. Sometimes 

 such cuttings are altogether unnecessary or undesirable, 

 in others one good cutting suffices, and in others again 

 two or even more are required. 



The period over which the preparatory stage extends 

 comprises sometimes only a few years, in others as much 

 as ten or even more years. In the latter case the cut- 

 tings should be light and frequently repeated. Gene- 

 rally, the cover should not be interrupted to any con- 

 siderable extent during the preparatory stage, except 

 towards the end of it. 



In selecting the trees to be cut during this stage, a 

 commencement is made with diseased trees, and all 



