I 1HLD-CKOPS WITH CULTIVATED TREES. 753 



coppice, nearly always of oak ; it has been practised for 

 centuries in the Odenwald, in Siegen, Westphalia, Hildesheim 

 and several other localities, and is followed most extensively 

 in the district of Beerfelden and Hirschhorn in the Neckar- 

 valley. As soon as the oak-coppice compartments have heen 

 felled and peeled, the bark removed, and the felling-area 

 cleared (usually about the end of May), the felling-area, on 

 which the oak-stools are somewhat far apart, is cultivated by 

 hoeing and burning, as in the methods previously described. 

 At present, in the Odenwald and irji Siegen, the cultivation is 

 only for a single crop, and the area is sown with winter-corn 

 (in October or November). 



In the Odenwald an acre of the best Hackicald yields about 

 8J bushels of corn. The felling-areas are leased in small lots 

 for cultivation, either after the felling and clearance of the 

 wood and bark, or together with the wood and bark. In 

 Hirschhorn and Beerfelden the forest-owners first auction-off 

 the bark to tanners at so much a cwt., and at the same time, 

 the right of cultivation in small lots to the peasantry ; the 

 latter also buy the standing-crop, bark and wood, and the 

 right of cultivating as well, under agreement to sell the bark 

 at a stated price to the tanners. In Siegen an acre yields on 

 the average 13 bushels of corn. The right of cultivation 

 on the annually felled areas is exercised by an association 

 of peasants. As the llackirald produces usually only bark of 

 an inferior quality, it is now so unproductive, financially, that 

 other forms of management must be adopted. 



(b) Waldfeldbau. Waldfcldbau is a similar method to that 

 of Hackwald, but is applied to high forest instead of coppice. 

 The method adopted by Forstmeister Keiss of Hesse-Darmstadt 

 has been followed in different German countries, and the 

 following account of the experience gained in the well-known 

 forest-range of Viernheim will suffice to explain it. The 

 felling and clearance of the felling-area is expedited so that 

 the land may be cultivated early in the spring. All the wood 

 is uprooted except a few standards (oaks or Scots pines). 

 The whole cleared felling-area is cultivated to a depth of from 

 1 foot, to 16 inches, and the soil, thoroughly worked, is restocked 

 by .sowing, or by planting in lines 1J meters (say 5 feet) apart. 



F.U. 3 C 



