SYLVICULTURE. 



water to run off, instead of collecting it like a saucer. The expense 

 of the genesis of the coppice forest is practically nil. 



VII. Season of coppicing: 



If the wood must be peeled, the cut should be made in early 

 spring. Late spring cutting subjects the new sprouts to early frosts. 

 Coppicing in August is supposed for similar reasons to affect the 

 vitality of the stumps. Where the shoots are not to be peeled, 

 cutting in late winter is best. Winter cutting prevents the stumps 

 from bleeding and allows to remove the product cut before the ap- 

 pearance of new shoots without injuring the stumps. 



Cutting in fall subjects the stumps to frost-cracks and to bark- 

 blistering; it causes the new fleshy shoots to appear early in spring, 

 at the season of prevailing late frosts. 



Accessibility of the locality at the proposed season of cutting 

 and availability of local labor further determine the season of 

 cutting. 



VIII. Reinforcing: Where the number of stumps is or becomes 

 deficient, there the owner may plant seedlings or stump-plants to 

 replenish the growing stock. 



B. Root suckers: Cotton wood, Willow, Locust, Alder, some 

 Elms and Maples, after European experience even Liriodendron ( ?,) 

 form root suckers, especially on porous soil. The suckers are in- 

 creased by locally uncovering the porous soil. They might be 

 severed from the stump and planted when two or three years old; 

 but this is expensive. Gardeners often use pieces of roots, say ten 

 inches long and finger-thick, for propagating broad-leaf species in 

 good soil. An observer in F. and T., May, 1904, claims to have found 

 that Fir and Spruce in the Presidential Range of the White Moun- 

 tains propagate their kind by the natural and unaided formation of 

 suckers developing from long horizontal roots. 



C. Layers: A low, long branch of a standing tree is partly 

 buried in a trench one-half foot deep, held in place by hooks, pins or 

 stones, the end of the branch protruding above ground. The branch 

 thus embedded forms roots and shoots. The latter are severed from 

 each other a year or two before planting in the open. 



Layering is a gardener's method only locally used in parks. At 

 very high altitudes, under the influence of very great atmospheric 

 moisture, the low Spruce branches naturally form roots and shoots 

 in a similar manner. 



D. Cuttings: Willows and Poplars are usually propagated by 

 "cuttings," viz.: pieces of branches one foot long and two years old, 

 tipped with a piece one year old. The cuttings are inserted obliquely, 



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