94 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



the more so if no attempt has been made to obtain returns 

 before that time. The value of small thinnings from larch 

 or other coniferous woods is greater when they are composed 

 of suppressed trees only than when dominant trees with 

 large crowns are taken out. The former are not only much 

 cleaner, but, having grown slowly from the start, the wood 

 is composed of narrow rings, and is consequently more 

 durable. 



As larch is particularly liable to be abused through 

 over-thinning in the early stages, a system of planting and 

 thinning it may be mentioned here which we have found to 

 answer well when a large extent of young plantations has 

 to be dealt with. 



In planting (where pits have to be dug) stout one- or two- 

 years' seedlings, two-year transplants are put in at 4 feet 

 apart, working in any other species used in every other row, 

 and at such distances apart in the rows as may be desired. 

 For slitting " two-year, one-year " plants are large enough, 

 and may be put in rather closer. 



For the first three or four years after planting the 

 plantation is gone through in each spring, and all sickly or 

 diseased individuals taken out and burnt, and the gaps filled 

 up with strong plants. 



After this, practically nothing is done until the twelfth or 

 fourteenth year after planting, when the ordinary woodmen 

 are sent through with hand-bills, and ordered to take out 

 all dead or suppressed trees, and clean off as many of the 

 dead branches on the remainder as possible. After this 

 cleaning process, an intelligent man or foreman is then sent 

 in to mark all trees that can be safely spared, picking out 

 any blistered, badly-shaped, or broken-topped individuals in 

 the first place, and then selecting a few of those pressing 

 too closely on the dominant trees. These marked trees are 

 then taken out from time to time, when they are wanted, 

 or a certain area is gone through annually, so that the 

 quantity of thinnings may not exceed the local demand for 

 them. This prevents a large number of smaller poles lying 

 about until they are rotten, for the demand for poles under 

 fencing size is often limited and uncertain. If not wanted, 

 these marked trees do little or no harm by standing, and, 



