80 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the condition of the ground. If the seed crop is poor, it 

 may be necessary to again cut back the weeds and to 

 have resort to wounding the soil. If, on the other hand, 

 the seedling growth is very luxuriant, cutting can be 

 much heavier. The result of the secondary fellings is to 

 increase the growth and development of the seedling 

 crop and to enable them to maintain possession of the 

 ground. As soon as the young crop is complete and the 



A SELECTION FOREST IN HTE. SAVOIE, FRANCE. 



first seedlings have developed into saplings, it is time 

 for the final felling. This felling merely removes the 

 remainder of the seed trees at one stroke, since it is rarely- 

 advisable to hold over a few seed trees even where regen- 

 eration may be lacking in a few spots. When seed trees 

 are held over, it means that very valuable timber de- 

 creases in value, since as soon as these mature oaks are 

 isolated, epicormic branches develop, the crown deterio- 

 rates, large branches die and there is great danger of 

 rot or damage from insects. A feature of oak and 

 beech naturally regenerated is the maintenance of the 

 soil in good condition and suitable mixture of beech in 

 the understory. The tolerant beech always has a ten- 

 dency to take possession of the soil, and, therefore, it 

 is often necessary to favor the oak. This can be done 

 by reserving more oak seed trees, in the seed felling, 



and by cutting the beech in the understory ; by hastening 

 the secondary felling and making it rather open wherever 

 oak seedlings have established themselves. Otherwise, 

 they may be crowded by the tolerant beech. The seed- 

 ing of the oak may also be increased by wounding the 

 ground so as to bare the mineral soil. Then, when the 

 seedlings are freed from the competing weeds and briars. 

 the oak can be favored. In the thinnings, which com- 

 mence when the oak is thirty to forty years of age, it 

 can be assisted in its competition with the beech. 



In fir stands, advance growth almost always exists, 

 therefore the seed felling is really a light secondary fell- 

 ing, since its object is to allow this advance growth to 

 develop. This first secondary felling, or seed felling, is 

 made very conservatively so as to remove the cover gradu- 

 ally and not to expose the seedlings to drying out or to 



ADVANCE GROWTH OF SILVER FIR IN FRANCE READY FOR THE 

 REMOVAL OF COVER. 



permit weeds to take possession of the soil. Even if sup- 

 pressed for a number of years, fir seedlings have the 

 ability to develop into good trees after the cover has 

 been removed. The other secondary fellings which fol- 

 low should also be "dark" since a gradual removal of 

 the cover is essential. On the other hand, the final fell- 

 ing should always be complete on account of the danger 

 from windfall and on account of the damage which 



