18 



From a syMcultural point of view the first thinning is probably the 

 most important, but from the revenue side the second and third will be found 

 more profitable. When work gets into arrears it will be advisable to do the 

 thinnings prescribed for the year before trying to clear off arrears. If it :s 

 impossible to carry out the whole scheme it will be better to leave the second 

 thinning entirely and finish I and III rather than to have arrears in all 

 three. 



44. The first thinning should be made as heavy as possible without 

 T, , , ,, ,. damage to the crop. As far as possible all 



Bulea for the marking of thinnings. 111 , i , f , ", . 



crooked shoots should be removed, seedlings being 



straighter than coppice shoots and less liable to decay at the base should be 

 favoured. If it is not advisable to remove all the shoots in a coppice clump 

 they should be reduced to 3 or 4 or even fewer. 



In the second thinning at 11 years there is far less scope for choice 

 and consequently less opportunity for improving the crop. Suppressed trees 

 which will soon die jjif left should be cut and removed together with dead 

 stems which are not rotten. The crop left can then be thinned. Again 

 a fairly heavy thinning would be desirable if it were not for the stems which 

 have been accustomed to be supported by their neighbours being unable to 

 do without some support. 



The third thinning at 16 years should aim mainly at opening out pro- 

 mising stems so that they may put on a good' girth increment during the re- 

 maining 6 years of their life. 



The intensity to which it is safe to thin is at present unknown and can 

 only be found out practically. If the thinnings are over-done they may^ do 

 harm rather than good though it must be remembered that unthinned crops at 

 present often suffer very severely from wind. On the other hand, if done pro- 

 perly they will increase the yield probably by 40 per cent, or even more, 

 tin, : 



I Thinning, say, 800 cubic feet stacked per acre. 



II Thinning, say, 400 cubic feet stacked per acre, 



III Thinning, say, 400 cubic feet stacked per acre. 



Total 1,000 cubic feet stacked per acre. 



45. The cutting back of mulberry in strips has already been referred to 



Cleanings d weeding &S P*W if ^ M decided to gTOW sisSOO stand- . 



ards. In the past it has also been customary, at 



least once during the first year and often more frequently and occasionally 

 again in the second and rarely also even in the third year, to go over the coppice 

 coupe cutting back weeds, with which hitherto Persian lilac has been included. 

 Although it is not proposed to cut back Persian lilac wholesale as a weed in 

 future there are weeds particularly Saccharum Munjq " kdnet " and Chenopo- 

 dium album "bdthu" which are apt to overrun the coupe and suppress all 

 other growth. These must be kept down by weeding as hitherto and it is sug- 

 gested that mulberry coppice shoots be cut back at the same time whenever 

 mulberry seedling regeneration is sufficient to enable coppice to be dispensed 

 with entirely. If pure seeding crops can be grown the timber yield will be im- 

 proved and there will be less loss from windfalls. Windfall isvery often due 

 to the rotting of a big mulberry stump surrounded by coppice shoots, the shoots 

 under these conditions are easily blown over in a direction radially away from 

 stump and if one shoot goes the rest frequently follow and cause a big hole in 

 the canopy. 



46. After the fellings have been made and the wood has been remove 



it used to be the custom to burn the brushwood 



Re-opening irrigation trenches. j f Ik i.- i j> 11 i 



and refuse, but it has been found cheaper to heaP 

 |t up between the irrigation trenches and leave it to rot on the ground which it 



