SYLVICULTURE. 



A. Stumpshoots (or stoolslioots or coppice shoots). 



I. Species: All hardwoods whilst young form stump shoots wheiir 

 cut just above the Callus. Amongst the softwoods, the Sequoias 

 exhibit enormous stump sprouts. Amongst the Yellow Pines, J\ 

 rigida and echinata. after F. E. Olmsted also P. taeda, are capable 

 of developing sprouts from stumps measuring less than six inches 

 in diameter. White Pines, Spruces, Firs, Larches, Hemlocks, etc. r 

 never form coppice shoots. 



II. Diameter: The sprouting capacity rapidly decreases, usually, 

 with increasing diameter of the stump. The diameter at whictt 

 the principal height growth is completed usually denotes the limit 

 permissible for coppice rotations. This rule is particularly well 

 illustrated by the behavior of Yelow Pine, Birch, Maple, Yellow 

 Poplar, Oaks, Hickories, etc. Chestnut and Sequoia do not seem 

 to follow the rule. 



III. Soil: Good soil allows big stumps otherwise unproductive- 

 of sprouts -to form stoolshoots. 



Good soil produces stronger, but less sprouts than poor soil. 



IV. Life of stumps: The life and hence the sprouting capacity 

 of stumps repeatedly coppiced is closelv connected with the resist- 

 ance offered by the timber to decay. White Oak, Chestnut, Se- 

 quoia and Locust are perseverant sprouters, the scars on the stump 

 being protected from rotting by the antiseptic qualities of the sub- 

 stances incrustating the heart wood. 



The reproductive power of Birch, Beech, and Maple is not sus- 

 tained for a long time. Ash and Basswood show greater persever- 

 ance. 



It might be said that a long-lifed species is also a perseverant 

 sprouter. 



The sprouting capacity is especially good in species capable of 

 forming a separate and detached root system for the sprout inde- 

 pendent from the mother stump. This is the case in species forming 

 sprouts from the base of the stump (at the root collar). 



V. Optimum number of stumps per acre: 



The optimum depends on the length of the rotation. It is con- 

 sidered to be: For German Oak coppice, rotation 20 years, 2,000 

 stumps per acre; for Osier culture, rotation one or two years, 80,000 

 stumps per acre. 



VI. Manner of coppicing: The use of the axe is preferable to 

 that of the saw. Stumps should be as low as possible, to begin with. 

 In case of stumps notably Beech and Birch coppiced a number of 

 times it is better to cut in the new wood. The scar should allow the- 



155 



