Practical Sylviculture 141 



and small dimensions, and would require a great deal of 

 time. During the early life of the trees in the woodlot, 

 it is quite important that they crowd one another to some 

 extent, since this tends to increase their height growth by 

 forcing them upward, producing tall, straight trunks. 

 As soon as a good height growth has been attained, then 

 the ax should be used in opening the woodlot, letting in 

 more light, giving the trees more room and encouraging 

 greater growth in diameter. 



Carrying out thinning operations in a woodlot in which 

 only one or two species of trees occur is quite a simple 

 matter as compared to the average woodlot which con- 

 tains a mixture of trees of different species and trees that 

 differ in their soil, moisture and light requirements. In 

 the average farm woodlot, thinning usually takes place 

 only when some fuel or timber is needed about the farm. 

 This usually is beneficial to a certain extent, but it is not 

 sufficiently systematic to enable the trees to produce their 

 maximum growth. The same system of thinning that is 

 adaptable to the native woodlot may not be adaptable 

 to the planted grove, since the native woodlot contains a 

 greater variety of trees and of various sizes, while the 

 planted grove may contain but two or three kinds and 

 usually of the same age and size. When a woodlot has 

 been cut over, most of the hardwood species will sprout 

 from the stump, producing great quantities of shoots, 

 which if properly cared for will develop into valuable 

 trees. The fact that these sprouts grow in great numbers 

 calls for a still different system of thinning. It follows 

 from this that the farmer must consider the kind of 

 trees, the manner in which they were established, the 



