39 



Let us now examine the best way of forming a forest. A mixed stand 

 is best for all purposes, but it requires more skill in its management. In a 

 mixed stand we combine the tolerant and intolerant varieties, the deep-root- 

 ed with the shallow-rooted varieties, thus using all the available root and 

 air space. This arrangement is also a protection against insects, fires, 

 winds, snow and other destructive agencies, and, moreover, such a stand 

 furnishes a varied product. 



There are two methods of starting a crop : artificial re-forestation and 

 natural regeneration, secured by the proper use of the axe. In harvesting 

 the old crop the new crop may b? reproduced. 



Most of our deciduous trees will sprout and thus replace 

 their fore-runners by a coppice growth,, consisting of sprouts from 

 the stumps. The simplest and crudest method of reproduction 

 \vhich results naturally when the old hard woods are cut, is ap- 

 plicable only to the broad-leaved trees which are capable of producing val- 

 uable shoots in this manner. The capacity for sprouting is possessed in 

 ('.ifferent degrees by the different species and is more or less lost by all in 

 old age ; and especially after repeated harvests the stumps become exhaust- 

 ed and die, so that the forest is apt gradually to deteriorate in composition 

 as well as in density, unless fresh blood is added by reproduction from 

 seed. Thus in Pennsylvania, where the system has been in vogue for a 

 century or more to furnish charcoal for the iron furnaces, the valuable 

 white oaks and hickories have been crowded out by the chestnut, which is 

 a superior sprouter. 



Another disadvantage of this coppice system, under which the wood- 

 lands of deciduous trees in almost all New England and Atlantic States 

 are produced, is that, although the sprouts develop much faster than the 

 seedlings from the start, they soon fall off in their growth, and are capable 

 merely of furnishing small dimensions and firewood. The coppice, there- 

 fore, is useful only for certain purposes, but cannot be relied upon to furn- 

 ish material for the great lumber market. 



The deterioration consequent upon the continued application of the 

 coppice is best studied in Italy and in certain parts of France where ser 

 viceable timber is almost unknown, and fagots of small firewood are pre- 

 cious articles. 



All other methods of regeneration, both artificial and natural, depend 

 ultimately upon the use of seed. In order to reproduce with any degree of 

 success the silviculturist must secure good seed, good seed bed, good light, 

 and good protection for his seedlings. The choice of method depends upon 

 financial as well as silvicultural considerations. 



In protection forests and luxury forests in which the requirement of a 

 continuous soil cover may be paramount, methods in which the old crop is 

 very slowly removed and replaced by the new crop are indicated, even if 

 financial and silvicultural results would make other methods desirable. 



