Growing and Planting Hardwood Seedlings. 13 



injured. Late cultivation induces/ late growth; there should he 

 no cultivation, therefore, after the middle of the growing season. 



CLEANING AND LIBERATION CUTTINGS. 



When a piece of cut-over land is planted, it may happen that the 

 natural brushy growth present will for a few years outgrow the 

 planted trees, overtop them, or crowd them so as to interfere seri- 

 ously with their development. In such a case, it will be necessary, 

 perhaps for two or three successive years, to lop off this brush with 

 a knife, pruning shears, or other sharp instrument. 



When there are old trees with wide-spreading crowns on areas to 

 be planted, it will be desirable to remove these trees a few years 



FIG. 7. Russian mulberry windbreak, 5 years old. Graham County, Kans. 



after the small trees are set out. Otherwise, because of the shade, 

 the small trees will not develop satisfactorily. 



THINNING. 



To produce clean-bodied timber, close spacing is desirable. When 

 the tops of the trees begin to intermingle and crowd each other, 

 however, they become like an overcrowded stand of vegetables in a 

 garden. Growth is stagnated. A good gardener would pull out a 

 portion of the vegetables in a garden that had reached this condi- 

 tion. When trees have reached a similar condition some of them 

 should be cut out. In both cases, the result is the best develop- 

 ment of the remaining portion rather than a poor development of 

 the original number. The best-formed, most valuable, and most 

 healthy trees should be selected to remain, and the others that are 

 likely to interfere with their growth should be removed. 



