CHAPTER VII. 



THE TENDING OF YOUNG HIGH FOREST AND PRUNING. 



CLEANING AND TENDING YOUNG CROPS. 



MOST young crops will in the early stages of their existence 

 require a great deal of care. Much more so is this the case 

 with young plantations on maiden land. 



It will always be necessary to cut annually all rank 

 growth of grass, weeds, bracken, brambles, and the like, until 

 all fear of the young crop being choked is passed : for serious 

 harm will be done to the young crop unless it be thus 

 kept clean. 



In a Pine district a short growth of heather is beneficial 

 rather than otherwise ; and on exposed high altitudes a thin 

 soil covering, even of grass, will often prove beneficial, 

 provided it is not high enough to choke the plants. 



But, in all other cases, there is no doubt that young crops 

 will thrive far better on land that is perfectly clean than 

 on land that is covered with grass or weeds, even though the 

 latter be kept down by cutting. 



The reason is somewhat obscure. To some extent it 

 may be due to undue pressure on the roots and exclusion of 

 air from them when the land is covered with grass, but the 

 main reason is probably due to rapid changes of the 

 temperature of the air near the ground level, and to the 

 reduction in temperature of that air, owing to the presence of 

 the covering of grass ; a reduction which in many cases will 

 result in late spring and early autumnal frosts. In sylvi- 

 culture it is impossible to incur the expense of hand or 

 horse hoeing the young crops in order to keep them clean, 



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