LIMITS TO USE OF. 625 



in all other kinds of forest the question should be decided 

 according to the nature of the locality. All woods which are 

 deteriorating for any reason — which have suffered from cater- 

 pillars, snow-break, wind-break, drought, &c., or in which, 

 from any cause, the leaf-canopy has opened out — (for instance, 

 immedi'ately after thinnings, preparatory fellings, &c.) — must 

 be protected as long as possible against the removal of litter. 

 Even-aged old woods ready for felling, and all young woods till 

 they have reached middle-age, should in any case be spared. 

 Litter should, as far as possible, be carefully preserved in 

 coppice-with-standards and coppice, and especially in oak-bark 

 coppice. 



5. Intensity of the Usage. 

 Only undecomposed litter should be removed, that in process 

 of decomposition being preserved. This proviso cannot indeed 

 be completely secured, but every effort must be made in this 

 direction and the removal of the humus should never be per- 

 mitted. The more a locality requires protection, the more 

 superficial should be the removal of the litter ; this is possible if 

 the workmen are engaged by the forest manager, but when the 

 peasants remove litter on their own account, it is better to allot 

 a large area instead of a small one for the removal of litter. 

 The mossy carpet in spruce and silver-fir forests should never 

 be entirely removed, but only in patches or strips. The hoe 

 must never be used for removing heather in sods. When dead 

 leaves are raked together, only a wooden rake with wide intervals 

 between the teeth should be used, never an iron rake. 



6. Length of Close-time. 



The length of close-time between two successive removals of 

 litter from the same area depends on the nature of the locality ; 

 the soil and configuration of the ground should be considered 

 first, and, only in the second place, the species, age, and condition 

 of the wood. It requires no argument to prove that the 

 forester should insist on as long a close-time as possible, and 

 should only consent to an interval less than 6 years when 

 absolutely compelled to do so. The close-time may be shortened 

 in woods of high poles or of trees which have attained the full 



VOL. V. s s 



