THE PRODUCTION OF MAPLE SIRUP AND SUGAR. 13 



;uid more thrifty stands, whore (he trees are just entering (he period 

 of most vigorous development-. 



The difference bet ween 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 lie observed 

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

 t reatment 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 

 to let several of them stand, but they should be so treated that maple 

 seedlings (which nearly always gain possession of the soil even under 

 beech) will have light enough to come in under them. When these 

 seedlings become established the beech or birch can be removed, and 

 young maples favored. When practicable always cut out other 

 seedlings than maple. 



(4) Successive thinnings are better than a radical opening up of 

 the stand, because in this way danger of windfall and drying out 

 the soil are avoided. This method also leaves room to overcome the 

 damage done by porcupines. These animals probably are the worst 

 enemies of the young maple. One porcupine in a single night can 

 strip the bark off many saplings, and to such an extent that they are 

 permanently ruined. The sugar trees should not have more than 10 

 or 12 feet of free space on any side of their crowns. A thrifty maple 

 can fill such a gap in eight or ten years, after which a final thinning 

 may be made and the remaining weed trees removed. 



(5 ) The edges of the grove which border upon open land should 

 not be thinned enough to leave the stand unprotected from strong 

 winds and sunlight. If other species are crowding the dominant 

 maples, they should be removed; but, as a rule, the borders should 

 remain dense and the trees should be covered to the ground with 

 foliage. 



(6) In cool situations, or in elevated regions, the thinning may be 

 heavier than farther south 'or in lower lands, where more care is 

 necessary to preserve a proper ground cover. Firewood and other 

 timber secured by thinning should pay for the cost of the operation. 

 The necessity for well-located roadways to take out the sap should 

 not be forgotten. 



DIG 



