SYSTEMS OF CLEAR-CUTTING 125 



this country, logging conditions may often require strips 

 wider than the standard. The wide strips are cut with 

 full knowledge that the reproduction will not be so good 

 as on narrow strips. 



In most forests where this method is likely to be 

 used, and with species growing in their optimum region 

 of development, fair reproduction can be secured at a dis- 

 tance of about three times the height of the seed-trees. 

 Under especially favorable conditions even a greater dis- 

 tance can be safely used. Thus, it is believed that in 

 Douglas fir stands in the foothills of the Cascade Moun- 

 tains, where the trees are from 150 to 175 feet or more 

 in height, strips may be cut from 500 to 600 feet wide. 



In this country, the general rule has been to make the 

 strips as wide as possible. In Europe, the rule has been 

 to make them as narrow as possible. The effort to make 

 a wide strip is designed to cheapen the cost of lumber- 

 ing; the aim is to reduce the present investment, even 

 at a sacrifice of future returns. The advantages of a nar- 

 row over a wide strip are as follows: 



1. A quicker, surer, and denser reproduction is 

 secured. 



2. A smaller, continuous area is exposed, and there is 

 less damage by drying of the soil. 



3. The newly established trees have a measure of side 

 shade, and suffer less from drought. 



4. On steep slopes the danger from erosion is less. 



5. The damage to small growth by insects is in the 

 long run less. 



