21 



would not be justified where selection fellings are in operation ; they should 

 also result in higher returns to Government, since prospective licensees are 

 likely to offer higher tenders under a system providing for more concentrated 

 working. 



21. GENERAL SCHEME OF MANAGEMENT PROPOSED. Eucalyptus planta- 

 tions will be considered separately (paragraph 34) : we are concerned here 

 only with the natural forests, and may consider first the general scheme of 

 management proposed, and then certain details as applied to some of the main 

 types of forest. 



It may be assumed that working sections have been suitably laid out ; in 

 most cases each will represent an area that can be worked continuously and 

 perpetually by at least one sawmill. The rotation is then determined and 

 divided for convenience into a number of periods, preferably equal in 

 length to the revision period of the plan, and the working section is divided 

 into the same number of approximately equiproductive periodic blocks. For 

 example, a rotation of 100 years is divided into five periods of 20 years each; 

 the age-classes in the respective periodic blocks should normally be : I, 81 

 100 years; II, 61 80 years; III, 41 60 years; IV, 21^0 years; V, 120 

 years. In allotting compartments or crops to periods, generally speaking 

 those containing most mature timber will be allotted to periodic block I, and 

 similarly the dominant age classes will be taken into consideration in allotting 

 crops to the other periodic blocks ; actually, however, allotment by age-classes 

 will probably not often be possible, since the forests are irregular and the age- 

 classes are frequently mixed together, and in this case it is important to allot 

 crops to periods in such a way as to afford the greatest convenience and 

 economy in working, so that regeneration fellings should not be unduly 

 scattered but should follow a regular sequence in conformity with a scheme 

 for the construction and extension of roads and other export lines and the 

 requirements of sawmills. 



Final fellings will be of two kinds (1) Main or regeneration fellings, 

 (2) subsidiary or selection fellings. Main fellings will be carried out only in 

 the periodic block under regeneration, that is, block I during the first period 

 and the other blocks in turn during subsequent periods. In the majority of 

 cases these fellings will be clear fellings with artificial regeneration. The 

 aim will be to fell and regenerate the whole periodic block during the period, 

 and it will facilitate the conduct of the work to allot equal annual coupes. 

 It should be emphasized, however, that the area actually felled each year 

 should on no account be in excess of what can be planted up immediately, and 

 any portion of an annual coupe that cannot be clear-felled without being 

 regenerated should be worked under selection fellings for the time being. 

 Experience has shown that the most satisfactory and economic method of 

 forming plantations is with the aid of temporary cultivation with field 

 crops, and the success of this system of regeneration in each case will there- 

 fore depend largely on the number of cultivators available for the work. 



The term " clear-felling " in the present case requires explanation. It 

 does not necessarily imply that the timber licensee should be required to fell 

 every tree on the area. Ordinarily cultivators will fell trees not felled by the 

 licensee,, and where this is the case the latter need not do more than remove 

 all marketable material within a given time. The licence should define the 

 meaning of " clear-felling " in each case. 



Subsidiary or selection fellings have for their object the utilization 

 of mature and overmature timber in periodic blocks not under regeneration. 

 As a general rule periodic block II should not be included in the area 

 worked under these fellings, since it will come under regeneration at no 

 distant date, and a supply of mature timber should be retained for the 

 regeneration fellings. The felling cycle adopted for the selection fellings 



