56 A MANUAL OF FORESTRY 



cut strips are not much wider than the height of the bordering 

 trees, although they may be three times as wide with some light- 

 seeded species. It is customary to allow several seed years to 

 pass between cuttings so that the area may be well reproduced. 

 The remaining stand can, of course, be cut clean and replanted; 

 or the seed tree method may be applied on these alternate strips. 

 If the period between cuttings were long enough to allow the new 

 generation to produce seed this would be unnecessary, but it is 

 not the practice to wait so long. 



2. Under this method the stand is removed by a series of 

 strips, beginning on one side and progressing in the direction of 

 the prevailing wind across the area. The last strips must be re- 

 produced by some other method. An interval of several seed 

 years is allowed to elapse between the cuttings. It would, there- 

 fore, take a very long time to cut over a whole forest in this way. 

 To overcome this delay the stand is divided into several nearly 

 equal areas and a series of strips is established in each. 



c. Clear Cutting in Patches (Group Method) . 



Irregular patches of unequal size are cut usually where a group 

 of reproduction is already started. These first openings are not 

 over 200 feet across and do not aggregate . over one-third the 

 entire area. When these patches are entirely reproduced from 

 the surrounding stand, the cuttings are enlarged gradually until 

 all is cleared. The last strips will, of course, have to be repro- 

 duced by some other method. 



C. THE SEED TREE METHOD. 



In some localities where there is little danger of windfall and 

 with well-rooted species, clean cutting with reserves of scattered 

 trees is advisable. This method is adapted only to trees with 

 light seeds which are able to reproduce on open areas. The best 

 number of seed trees to be left varies considerably, but they 

 should not be farther apart than their heights, three to eight per 

 acre. Often very limby or partially decayed trees, so long as 



