18 



between the trees will keep them all suppressed, while they will sup- 

 ply the necessary ground cover. The seedlings which come up under 

 the direct shade of the old trees will never develop to any size, unless 

 some of the large trees are removed by age or accident. Figure 1 

 shows this method of treatment. Cattle may be let in the grove 

 when it has become too tangled for convenient sap collecting, and 

 when the young growth desired for open places has reached a height 

 of 8 or 10 feet. They will soon open up the smaller and undesirable 

 growth. At the same time roadways should be opened and the 

 ground kept free of fallen limbs and trees. The tall, slender seed- 

 lings will be a small obstruction in sap gathering, but a little dis- 

 comfort can be borne for the sake of the undoubted advantages 

 obtained by a ground cover. 



THE IMPROVEMENT OF A DENSE YOUNG GROVE. 



In many parts of the maple-producing section a second-growth 

 forest has come up similar in composition to the original stand. The 

 sugar maple often forms a predominant part of such a wood, and in 

 that case all that is needed to turn it into a sugar grove is to remove 

 a number of interfering trees, thus giving the proper number of 

 maples a chance to develop the full crowns necessary to a maximum 

 yield of sap per acre. Preference should be given to the younger 

 and more thrifty stands, where the trees are just entering the period 

 of most vigorous development. 



The difference between thinning a young stand and a fully matured 

 grove of the same type is usually that in the former case provision 

 must be made for growing a set of full-crowned sugar trees from the 

 more thrifty of the young maples. In a stand from 40 to 60 years 

 old it is easy to pick the largest and best-developed specimens and 

 favor them for the future. Some of the directions to be observed 

 in treating a dense young grove are the same as those given for the 

 treatment of the mature grove. 



(1) Select the sound, dominant trees which show a natural tend- 

 ency to a well-branched, compact crown of large size, and remove 

 from all sides everything which tends to crowd them. If the stand 

 is between 40 and 60 years old, leave about 100 trees to the acre; if 

 older, leave about 75 trees. The average healthy young maple can 

 be freed for 10 to 12 feet on all sides of its crown without the slightest 

 danger, except in the most exposed positions. 



(2) In the choice of sugar trees the position and influence of each 

 on its neighbors must be considered. If two dominant trees crowd 

 each other seriously, remove the least promising. 



(3) In case the beech, birch, or other species are so grouped that 

 their removal would make a serious gap in the forest, it will be well 



