56 FORESTRY 



is then a simple matter to produce a crop of seedlings 

 by gradual cutting in the old stand. With us, the same 

 method might be adopted, but in stands containing a 

 great deal of chestnut it is found that this tree sprouts at 

 ages exceeding 100 years. Sprouts always grow much fast- 

 er than seedlings, and suppress them, so that it is difficult 

 to establish seedlings in competition with sprouts, no mat- 

 ter how poor the latter may be. Our general plans would 

 have to be the same as in Europe, that of allowing the 

 stands to reach as great an age as possible, saving the 

 large trees until last, and thus killing out the larger num- 

 ber of the old stumps by shading. To sum up, the sys- 

 tems of silviculture in this country are, planting; clear 

 cutting with reproduction from adjoining stands, by 

 strips or by groups; selection cutting with a tendency 

 to establish even-aged groups; removal of the stand in 

 two cuttings on the principle of selection and seed trees; 

 clear cutting with the reservation of a few seed trees, 

 and clear cutting for sprouts. 



Unwise Legislation Regulating Silvicultural Methods. 

 — A great deal is said about cutting forests to a diameter 

 limit, and saving all trees below this limit. Laws have 

 been recommended along this line. In a very rough way, 

 such regulations might be applied to forests which could 

 be cut on the selection plan, but for all other forests, it 

 would frequently prevent the proper method of cutting 

 necessary to secure reproduction. Even in the selection 

 type, there are frequently stands growing in poor soil in 

 which the trees never reach a large size and must be cut. 

 It is not possible to embody such technical requirements 

 in laws with any success, when the proper measures dif- 

 fer so greatly with the forests and the markets. 



The Nature of the Investment Demanded by Silvicul- 

 tural Operations. — In carrying out any of these systems 

 in the woods, it is found necessary to modify the old meth- 

 ods employed by the lumberman. Saving of waste in log- 



