7 8 



TENDING OF WOODS 



extremes, inclining to density in youth and openness towards 

 maturity. 



No regard should be paid to the distance apart of the stems. 

 It is at the crown that the woodman looks when making 

 a thinning, and so long as the crowns are kept so close that 

 there is a complete cover over the ground at all ages, it 

 matters not whether the stems are regularly or irregularly 

 spaced. The following figures given in the Forestry Com- 

 mission's bulletin No. 3 may be taken as a guide as to what 

 number of stems should stand on an acre at various acres on 



o 



average soils if the production of high-class timber is aimed at, 

 and if the woods have been well managed from the start. 

 These figures are based on the measurement of 1,100 carefully 

 selected sample plots throughout the United Kingdom. On 

 first-class soils the number of trees will be smaller, and on 

 poorer soils larger. 



Number of trees per acre, after thinning. 



As a general rule conifers can stand closer than broad- 

 leaved trees, and shade-bearers than light-demanders. Species 

 like oak and Scotch pine, which tend to the formation of side 

 branches, should be kept closer when young than species with- 

 out this tendency. 



A thinning is called light when only dead and suppressed trees 

 are cut out; moderate when some dominated trees are also 

 cut ; heavy when some of the dominating trees are removed. 



