LIMITS TO USE OF LITTER. 775 



2. Litter from Moss. 



Wherever the moss has grown into cushions, in which, as 

 in silver-fir and spruce woods, the needles are embedded, it 

 can be raked together. Certain kinds of moss, however, can 

 be gathered only by hand. 



3. Litter from Weeds. 



Heather is the most productive form of weed-litter, and is 

 harvested in different ways according to its age and silvi- 

 cultural requirements. Heather is cut usually with the sickle, 

 provided it is not more than 3 to 4 years old ; when old and 

 woody, it must be cut with a strong knife, or whenever there 

 is no fear of injuring forest plants which are growing among 

 the heather, it may be pulled up by hand. Whenever the 

 heather is harvested on blanks, or waste land, it is best to 

 use a strong scythe, and when not only the heather but the 

 grassy or mossy tufts which accompany it are utilised, a 

 broad, sharp hoe is used. Bilberry and other Vaccinium 

 undergrowth, also broom and ferns, when used for litter, are 

 harvested like heather. All the heather and other weeds, 

 which have been gathered, are brought usually in cloths to the 

 forest depot ; broom and ferns are often firmly tied on the 

 spot into bundles by means of withes. 



SECTION VI. LIMITS TO USE OF LITTER. 



The forester must endeavour to render the removal of litter 

 as innocuous as possible. Thus the demand for litter should, 

 if possible, be met by supplying those kinds which the forest 

 can best dispense with ; places and woods are opened which 

 can best withstand the loss ; the intensity and length of rota- 

 tion of the removal of litter should be modified in places which 

 are most liable to injury, and a season chosen for the usage 

 when the soil is least exposed to be dried up. 



1. Kind of Litter. 



Litter from roads, halting-places, ditches and blanks, and 

 from forest weeds, may be supplied with least injury to the 

 forest. 



