178 ECONOMICS OF FORESTRY. 



Even in broad-leaved trees the capacity for 

 sprouting is possessed in different degree by the 

 different species, and is more or less lost by all in 

 old age ; and especially after repeated harvests the 

 stumps become exhausted and die, so that the 

 forest is apt gradually to deteriorate in compo- 

 sition as well as in density, unless fresh blood is 

 added by reproduction from seed. 



Thus in Pennsylvania, where the system has 

 been in vogue for a century and more to furnish 

 charcoal for the iron furnaces, the valuable white 

 oaks and hickories have been crowded out by the 

 chestnut, which is a superior sprouter ; similarly, 

 in Massachusetts the inferior white birch replaces 

 the more valuable kinds in the coppice, as their 

 stocks weaken and fall a prey to rot. 



Another disadvantage of this coppice system 

 under which the woodlands of deciduous trees in 

 almost all New England and the Atlantic States 

 are reproduced is that, although the sprouts de- 

 velop much faster than the seedlings from the 

 start, they soon fall off in their growth, and are 

 capable merely of furnishing small dimensions 

 and fire wood. The coppice, therefore, is useful 

 only for certain purposes, but cannot be relied 

 upon to furnish material for the great lumber 

 market. 



The deterioration consequent to the continued 

 application of the coppice is best studied in Italy 

 and in certain parts of France, where serviceable 



