158 MODEM FOREST ECONOMY. 



' 8. Preparation for a state of timber forest, by facilita- 

 ting the management required for proceeding promptly to 

 the transformation when the moment for this shall have 

 come ; 



' 9. The application of treatment the most advanageous 

 under every point of view, to the beech coppice which 

 cannot be converted into timber forest, be it on account of 

 economical considerations, or be it on account of the 

 poverty of the land. 



' Let us compare now the spirit of the method proposed 

 with that of the old system of Furetage, and cast a glance 

 at the general results of the two methods of procedure. 



' One can establish easily two essential differences. 



' In the old Furetage each shoot was considered indivi- 

 vidually; and the necessary precautions were taken to 

 secure the life of the stump, and the prosperous growth of 

 the shoots to be obtained. Further, the shoots in a 

 dominant condition were exploited, and the dominated 

 shoots were reserved, awaiting the attainment by these 

 of a maximum of dimensions which was variable. 



' On the contrary, by the employment of the proposed 

 formula : 



' 1. The consideration of each shoot separately is aban- 

 doned in favour of the consideration of the prosperity of 

 the crop in a mass. This method of looking at the sub- 

 ject is conformable to the modern and generally adopted 

 method of attending to the culture of woods, the prescrip- 

 tions of which relate to forest masses, and not to the trees 

 individually. It is thus in the manoeuvring of a corps 

 d'armee, or of a battalion, or of even a platoon of soldiers, 

 the individuality of the soldier is effaced. Attention to 

 be given to the development of each subject pertains to 

 arboriculture, whilst it is the development of the forest 

 mass which is what pertains to sylviculture ; no doubt the 

 forest mass is composed of trees, as the army is composed 

 of soldiers, and it is no more possible to lay down strictly 

 rules of sylviculture without taking into account the 

 requirements of the tree, than it is to determine the 



