190 THE PRINCIPLES OF HANDLING WOODLANDS 



Improvement cuttings may be classed in the ft>llow- 

 ing groups: 



1. Cleanings. 



2. Liberation cuttings. 



3. Thinnings. 



4. Damage cuttings. 



Cleanings 



This term is applied to cuttings in young, even-aged 

 stands which remove the undesirable trees likely to 

 overtop and injure those of greater promise. In nearly 

 every young stand there are a certain number of indi- 

 viduals of poor species or of poor form which grow taller 

 than the surrounding trees; and if these are allowed 

 to stand, they will interfere with or actually kill trees of 

 prospective value. These undesirable trees are removed 

 by the cleanings while the stand is still very young, and 

 before they have done any appreciable damage. The 

 small openings made by their removal are quickly closed 

 together. 



The material which most commonly requires atten- 

 tion is advance growth of poor species or of poor form. 

 A tree from 5 to 10 years older than the main stand 

 may develop an open-grown form, overtop and injure 

 the surrounding trees of good form, occupy a proportion- 

 ately large space where a number of much better trees 

 might be growing, and itself produce knotty, inferior 

 wood. Often this advance growth is composed of infe- 

 rior species. If, however, a stand is poorly stocked, and 



