INTERMEDIATE FELLINGS 189 



Intermediate Fellings. After the stand has been regenerated the 

 sapling thickets are thinned by the so-called "depressage" (see p. 110), 

 before they reach merchantable size, to avoid fungous damage, and 

 cleanings are sometimes necessary to protect the pine against the 

 heather. 



Under "Improvement Cutting" the Biscarrosse working plan pro- 

 vides : 



"Cleanings and thinnings without tapping. Commence the cleanings in the re- 

 generated 'periodic blocks' 5 years old; at the same time lop the lower whorls of the 

 vigorous shoots and cut the weeds which suppress the pine. These (cultural) opera- 

 tions should be made periodically every 5 years and will become thinnings at 10 to 15 

 years; thus the stand will be systematically thinned and when about 20 to 25 years 

 old there should be about 200 stems per acre. Do not hesitate to cut back the weeds at 

 each period, both broom and furze, with the double object of doing away with thickets 

 which promote conflagrations and to give the pine the air and light so necessary for 

 good growth. It is, in effect, absolutely proven in the Landes that the pineries on 

 cleared soil grow much better than those with thick understory (of weeds) . In the older 

 stands the thinnings (without tapping or with the axe) have almost entirely the char- 

 acter of weedings; the advance seedlings of no value at the time of regeneration will then 

 disappear under the cover of the dominant story." 



Pruning usually starts at 10 years of age. The typical 3-inch tree is 

 naturally pruned up to 2 feet above the ground, while the typical tree 

 of 6 inches is pruned artificially up to 10 to 12 feet above the ground. 

 The branches, which are left as they fall, take about 5 years to rot. 

 This pruning is done every 5 years. In order to protect stands from 

 fire at the time of cleaning the genista is now cut. Stands artificially 

 sown are usually mixed with a dense stand of genista 10 feet high; con- 

 sequently the pine has to be freed. The first thinning or cleaning is 

 quite heavy and one stand was noted where there were 800 trees per acre 

 before the thinning that showed only 480 per acre after the thinning. 



Regular thinnings "with the axe" without tapping (see p. 110) are 

 thus usually necessary before the trees are large enough to stand a face. 

 At about 25 years, depending on the growth, the regular thinnings 

 by tapping to death begin, often preceded by tapping to exhaustion 

 (see quotation below). This merely means that instead of at once fell- 

 ing a tree, which is superfluous or of poor quality, it is first heavily 

 tapped for a period and then tapped to death and cut after four or more 

 years of very intensive tapping. This type of thinning is continued 

 every 5 to 10 years until the stand is mature and rather open (see p. 192). 



In the forest of Biscarrosse (Landes) thinnings by tapping alive are 

 conducted as follows : 23 



23 Extract from the revised working plan for Biscarrosse (Landes) forest containing 

 an inspection note from De Lapasse of December 21, 1908. Reference is made to page 

 193 where the new 4-year cycle (for thinnings and tapping) is fully explained. 



