54 Germany. 



sure, many things that probably were not really put into 

 practice. 



a. Natural regeneration Avas at first merely favored, 

 without the adoption of any very positive measures to 

 secure it, namely, by removing the brush so as not to 

 smother the young growth, by keeping out cattle from 

 the young growth (Schonung), by removing the cut 

 wood within the year, so as to give young growth a 

 chance for establishing itself. 



If the selection method of lumbering did not produce 

 any desirable result in reproduction, the clear cutting 

 which was practiced without system where charcoal man- 

 ufacturing or river driving invited to it, did even less so. 

 In either case, besides the defective and damaged old 

 stubs which were left in the lumbering, a poor after- 

 growth of undesirable character remained, as is the case 

 with us on so many areas. 



As early as 1534 and 1529 we have record of a con- 

 scious attempt to secure a reproduction by leaving ten 

 to thirty seed trees per acre; but the result was disap- 

 pointing, for this practice, being applied to the shallow- 

 rooted spruce, the inevitable occurred, namely, the seed 

 trees were thrown by the winds. 



This experience led to the prescription (in 1565) to 

 leave, besides seed trees, parts of the other stand for 

 protection against wind damage; later, wind protection 

 was sought by leaving parcels standing on all four sides, 

 giving rise to a checker-board progress of fellings or a 

 group system of reproduction, which by the middle of 

 the 18th century had developed into the regular strip 

 system, being applied in Austria (1766) to fir and spruce 



