SYLVICULTURE 



INTKODUCTION. 



Sylviculture literally means the culture of forests, that is 

 to say, all measures connected with the formation, preserva- 

 tion and treatment of forests. In practice, however, the word 

 forestry is used to express and comprise all this, while by 

 sylviculture, in its narrower sense, is understood the formation, 

 regeneration and tending of forests, or woods, until they 

 become ripe for the axe. Sylviculture, in the latter sense, 

 teaches how a forest, or wood, can be produced and guided to 

 maturity so as to realise in the most advantageous manner 

 the object which the proprietor has in view. 



The object for which a particular forest is maintained 

 depends on the will and pleasure of the owner, in so far as his 

 freedom of action is not limited by rights of third persons, or 

 by legal enactments. The object itself can be one of many, 

 and of these the following may be mentioned by way of 

 illustration : — 



1. To yield produce of a definite description, for instance trees 



and shrubs of special beauty, or trees giving a certain 

 kind of timber, or other produce, fit for particular 

 purposes, such as grass, turpentine, caoutchouc, etc. 



2. To produce the greatest possible quantity of wood, or 



other produce, per acre and year. 



3. To produce the highest possible money return per acre 



and year. 



4. To produce the highest possible interest on the invested 



capital. 



5. To produce certain indirect eft'ects ; for instance, to 

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