CARING FOR THE GROWING WOODLOT 105 



moisture and growth, cultivation of the trees helps them to 

 become established and hastens their growth during the first 

 few years. Field crops can be grown between the rows of 

 trees, so that the entire cost of cultivation need not be borne 

 by the tree crop. The number of cultivations a year and the 

 number of years the plantation should be cultivated will de- 

 pend on the rapidity of growth of the trees, the spacing used, 

 the character of the soil and situation and the climate. Culti- 

 vation of forest trees, as with fruit trees, should not be con- 

 tinued late in the season for fear of the trees being winter- 

 killed. With late cultivation the wood of trees continues to 

 grow and remains soft and full of moisture. Freezing will 

 kill back such tender shoots. Cultivation should not be con- 

 tinued beyond midsummer. When the trees have been started 

 from seed sown by the trees they will seldom need cultivation. 

 The young trees starting from seed send out their roots in 

 all directions and become well established at once, so that 

 usually they can compete with the grass and weeds that grow 

 with them unless this material becomes too high. 



Cleanings in a Growing Woodlot. A cleaning is a thin- 

 ning out of trees in a very young stand. Its object is to 

 improve the stand and to determine early in the life of the 

 stand the trees that are to grow. It is usually made before 

 the trees are 10 years old. Often the better kinds of trees 

 will be outgrown by inferior ones or be crowded by trees of 

 poor form, and unless these are removed they will interfere 

 with or cause the death of the better trees. Sprouts, because 

 they grow much faster than seedlings for the first few years, 

 will often overtop the seedlings and destroy them by their 

 shade. When the seedlings are wanted the sprouts inter- 

 fering with them should be removed. Often in natural repro- 

 duction the young seedlings will be bunched very closely 

 together in- a dense growth. The removal of some of the 

 seedlings will greatly benefit the growth of those left. 



A cleaning is made for the benefit of the young growing 



