BRITISH FOREST TK1-.1.> 109 



edges, so as to ensure speedier regeneration and earlier 

 clearance of the parent trees, in order to minimise the damage 

 caused to the seedling growth at the time of extraction. 

 Where good patches of self-sown spruce occur they should 

 be retained, but all other species of trees should be cut out. 

 When practicable, large branches should be sawn off to 

 decrease the leverage obtainable by the wind, but care should 

 be taken to carry out this operation during winter, in order to 

 prevent the outflow of sap from the wounds. Whatever 

 soil-preparation can be conveniently undertaken yields its 

 reward in easier and better growth of seedlings ; the layer 

 of thick moss should at any rate be removed with the rake. 

 In Prussia, breaking up of the soil roughly into clods in 

 bands or strips one to one and a half feet broad and six feet 

 apart has been found a judicious outlay, the operation being 

 performed in the autumn of the seed-year. 



The clearance of the standard parent trees commences in 

 the winter of the year following the seed-shedding, and 

 the extraction should take place, so far as possible, whilst 

 snow lies on the ground, in order to minimise the injury 

 done to the seedling crop ; clearance must be effected as 

 speedily as possible, as the danger from wind increases greatly 

 when once this operation has been begun ; even in sheltered 

 localities the final clearance should be completed by the time 

 the seedlings have attained a height of one foot. Where 

 reproduction has not been equally and uniformly successful, 

 it is not advisable to retain the standards ; blanks can easily 

 be filled up by sowing or planting, or an excellent opportunity 

 is thus given for introducing other species such as silver fir, 

 beech, pine or larch, whose admixture along with spruce 

 has been shown by experience to be so desirable for many 

 good reasons. Douglas fir should also yield good results. 



Artificial Reproduction and Formation. During the last 

 century, sowing was the usual method of forming or repro- 



