292 



FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. 8. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



be made slanting downward, and as smooth as possible, to prevent collection of moisture on the 

 stump and the resulting decay, and as close as possible to the ground, where the stump is less 

 exposed to injuries, and the new sprouts, starting close to the ground, may strike independent roots. 

 Fail places or gaps should be tilled by planting. This can be readily done by bending to the 

 ground some of the neighboring sprouts, when 2 to 3 years old, notching, fastening them down 

 with a wooden hook or a stone, and covering them with soil a short distance (4 to G inches) from 

 the end. The sprout will then strike root, and after a year or so may be severed from the mother 

 stock by a sharp cut (fig. 41). 



For the recuperation of the crop, it is desirable to maintain a supply of seedling trees, which 

 may be secured either by the natural seeding of a few mother trees of the old crop which are left, 

 or by planting. This kind of management, coppice with seedling or standard trees intermixed, if 

 the latter are left regularly and well distributed over the wood lot, leads to a management called 

 "standard coppice." In this it is attempted to avoid the drawbacks of the coppice, viz, failure to 

 produce dimension material and running out of the stocks. The former object is, however, only 

 partially accomplished, as the trees grown without sufficient side shading are apt to produce 



branchy boles and hence 

 knotty timber, besides in- 

 juring I he coppice by their 

 shade. 



PLAN OK MANAGEMENT. 



In order to harmon- 

 ize the requirements of 

 the wood lot from a sylvi- 

 cultural point of view and 

 the needs of the fanner 

 for wood supplies, the cut- 

 ting must follow some sys- 

 tematic plan. 



The improvement cut- 

 tings need not, in point 

 of time, have been made 

 all over the lot before be- 

 ginning the cuttings for 

 regeneration, provided they have been made in those parts which are to be regenerated. Both 

 the cuttings may go on simultaneously, and this enables the farmer to gauge the amount of cutting 

 to his consumption. According to the amount of wood needed, one or more groups may be started 

 at the same time. It is, however, desirable, for the sake of renewing the crop systematically, to 

 arrange the groups in a regular order over the lot. 



How TO CULTIVATE THE WOOD CROP. 



Where'only firewood is desired i. e., wood without special form, size, or quality no attention 

 to the crop is necessary, except to insure that it covers the ground completely. Nevertheless, even 

 in such a crop, which is usually managed as a coppice, some of the operations described in this 

 chapter may prove advantageous. Where, however, not only quantity but useful quality of the 

 crop is also to be secured the development of the wood crop may be advantageously influenced 

 by controlling the supply of light available to the individual trees. 



It may be proper to repeat here briefly what has been explained in previous pages regarding 

 the influence of light on tree development. 



EFFECT OK LIGHT ON WOOD PRODUCTION. 



Dense shade preserves soil moisture, the most essential element for wood production; a close 

 stand of suitable kinds of trees secures this" shading and prevents the surface evaporation of soil 

 moisture, making it available for wood production. But a close stand also cuts off side light and 



FIG. 41 Method of layering to produce new stocks in coppice wood. 



