i6 



THE FORESTER. 



January, 



groups in dense stands of Beech, with its 

 crown well above the general canopy, en-- 

 joying the full influence of the sunshine 

 with its trunk shaded by the Beech around 

 it, conditions were suited to its develop- 

 ment. In other words it was clear that 

 the Beech served as a nurse for the Oak, 

 forcing it to grow towards the light and 

 admitting that light only from above, with 

 tall cylindrical trees, excellently adapted 

 to use as timber, as the result. Incident- 

 ally also, Beech was seen to serve still an- 

 other purpose, in shading the ground and 

 covering it with its heavy leaf litter, thereby 

 adding greatly to the moisture and fertility 

 of the forest floor. To systematize a 

 method of management easy of applica- 

 tion, embodying the good features of na- 

 ture's method without involving the same 

 prodigal use of time, was the problem. 

 If no attempt had been made to perpetuate 

 the two-storied forest of Beech and Oak, 

 it might certainly have continued to occur 

 naturally, as in the past. To trust entirely 

 to chance, however, in the perpetuation of 

 a valuable timber tree, would not have 

 been good forestry in the case of a species 

 handicapped by infrequent seed years, 

 strong demands upon light and a rate of 

 growth so much slower than that of the 

 Beech as to render it constantly liable to 

 be choked out by the latter. In order to 

 counteract these difficulties, the following 

 plan was adopted : 



Spots seldom more than a fraction of an 

 acre in extent, suited especially to the Oak, 

 were selected in mature Beech forest. 

 These were cut clean of the Beech which 

 covered them and sown broadcast with 

 acorns. After four or five years when the 

 young Oaks had obtained a start sufficient 

 to enable them to hold their own against 

 the faster growing Beech, the Beech wood 

 surrounding the Oak groups was repro- 

 duced by natural means; that is, successive 

 cuttings were made in it, by which the 

 light necessary to the germination and 

 growth of Beech seedlings was admitted 

 to the soil, and after these had become 

 established in sufficient quantity, the old 

 Beech wood was gradually removed, allow- 

 ing a young wood of Beech to take its 



place. At the same time, many young 

 Beech sprung up in the Oak groups as 

 well as around them, and the final result 

 was exactly what had been desired a two- 

 storied forest with the Oak above and the 

 Beech below. This system has been 

 adopted permanently and every year fresh 

 blanks are cut in the Beech woods and 

 sown with acorns, thereby insuring to 

 Spessart peasants of future generations an 

 ample supply of the same fine Oak timber 

 that the present generation is enjoying. 



It may occur to the reader that although 

 the conservative system of management 

 adopted by the Bavarian government for 

 the forests of the Spessart may contain 

 some instructive features in view of the 

 interests at stake, the sylvicultural treat- 

 ment of the Oak contains no hints of prac- 

 tical value for the management of Amer- 

 ican forests. It is true that so intricate a 

 method involving large expense and much 

 technical skill for its application, is justi- 

 fied in the Spessart only because the value 

 of land and timber render it profitable. It 

 is also true that such conditions do not yet 

 exist generally in America. But because 

 a system cannot be adopted as it stands, 

 it does not follow that some modification 

 of it may not be employed where oppor- 

 tunity arises. The Spessart does not illus- 

 trate merely how Oak may be grown suc- 

 cessfully in mixture with Beech. It teaches 

 broad principles of sylviculture and proves 

 the value of close observation. It was the 

 study of these forests that induced Sir 

 Dietrich Brandis, late Inspector General 

 of Forests in India, to adopt in 1850 a 

 similar system in Burma for the raising 

 of Teak in mixture with Bamboo, the 

 Teak forming the overwood and the Bam- 

 boo the underwood ; a system which has 

 served as a source of large annual revenue 

 to the British crown. In our own northern 

 woods we find the Hemlock and Pine as- 

 sociated in the same way as are the Spes- 

 sart Beech and Oak, and in various parts 

 of the United States other species form 

 analogous cases, where nature points the 

 way towards the best means of growing 

 the local timber tree. 



( To be continued.) 





