SEVERANCE CUTTINGS. 299 



windward side has been cut. An example will explain 

 this. A wood comprising a and b is to be divided into two 

 cutting series I. and II. To prevent the trees in II. being 

 thrown by wind, when I. is cut over, a strip c is cleared some 

 time before cuttings in I. are commenced, so that the edge- 

 trees along the line d e may become storm-firm. 



Severance cuttings need not be straight ; they may, if neces- 

 sary, be curved, or run along two or three sides of a wood. 

 The latter is necessary, where the prevailing wind direction is 

 not constant, but oscillates, say, from north-west to south- 

 west. The breadth of severance cuttings differs according to 

 species, their height growth and the strength of threatening 

 winds ; it will ordinarily range between 30 and 60 feet. 



Severance cuttings must be made while the wood to be pro- 

 tected is still young and capable of developing firm edge trees ; 

 such a development is generally no longer possible after the 

 trees have passed middle age. They must be made some 15 

 to 20 years before the regular cuttings in the windward wood 

 are commenced. Where danger from windfalls is great, it is 

 desirable first to clear a narrow strip, and widen it a few years 

 afterwards in one or more instalments, so as to gradually 

 accustom the edge trees to the effects of strong winds. If the 

 severance cutting is not to form a road or ride, it is at once 

 re-stocked, so as to avoid loss of increment, and because the 

 existence of a young wood in front of that to be protected is 

 an additional safeguard against windfalls. When a severance 

 cutting is made along an existing road or ride, it is of course 

 placed to the windward of it. 



If the proper time for making a severance cutting is past, 

 and the wood to be protected is too old, it would be a dan- 

 gerous procedure to make such a cutting. In that case it is 

 better to make a series of thinnings in the strip along the edge 

 of the wood to be protected, before cuttings in the windward 

 wood are commenced. Whether this measure will have the 

 desired effect is doubtful, but it is better than to risk a regular 

 severance cutting. 



