98 METHODS OF TREATMENT 



this method, but it would probably prove more advantageous 

 to work them under the group method, as the young trees 

 would grow more rapidly. 



There is great danger of overcutting where woods are 

 worked under this method, as it is very difficult to calculate 

 the number of cubic feet which should be cut, and there is no 

 area check. Hence, unless the woodman is very skilful, a time 

 may come when no trees of mature size will be found standing 

 in the wood. Where, however, there is a working plan pre- 

 pared by an expert the volume of timber which may be cut 

 annually is laid down. 



The soil is excellently preserved, while damage by frost or 

 drought is reduced to a minimum ; on the other hand, the 

 trees grow slowly, and the carrying out of the fellings is 

 expensive and difficult, as more damage is done in felling in 

 woods where the trees are of varying heights than where all 

 trees are of more or less the same height. The trees are often 

 crooked when grown under this method, as each tree, as it 

 were, feels round and grows towards a hole in the canopy. 

 The method is only suitable in those places where it is essential 

 to keep a continuous shelter over the ground, e.g. on steep 

 slopes and exposed hill-tops. It can also be used in very 

 small woods which are not large enough for an equal area to 

 be cut each year. All woods which are left out of the general 

 scheme, such as those round the owner's mansion, or those 

 worked solely with an idea to beauty and not for revenue, 

 may be managed under this method. 



Coppice System. 



All broad-leaved trees can be coppiced, the reproductive 

 power of oak, sweet chestnut, sycamore, alder, hazel, and ash 

 being, however, greater than that of birch, beech, sallow, and 

 aspen. When a young wood of the above species is cut down 

 a number of shoots arise from the stools, and, growing rapidly, 

 soon form a dense thicket ; this is allowed to grow to the size 



