PBACTICAL FOEESTBY. 



11 ft. in height, but many of the suppressed and weakly 

 were little more than half that sizeJ 



2. To what extent should thinning be engaged in? In 

 following up the latter case, the tallest and healthiest trees 

 were reserved; all distorted, sickly, and stunted specimens 

 being removed ; but in the case of two or more propor- 

 tionately small trees growing in close proximity, the most 

 promising was left, and the others cut away, thus avoiding 

 gaps in the plantation. At the first thinning it will be found 

 quite impossible to leave the trees anything like regular 

 over the ground, although this should be studied as much as 

 possible, and bare spaces are to be carefully guarded against. 

 With the vigorous growth of the trees, and the interlacing 

 of branches previous to the first thinning, no great openings 

 will require to be made, and nothing more than will be 

 canopied over during the next two years. 



3. What time should elapse between each thinning ? This 

 can only be correctly defined after a careful inspection of 

 the particular wood. Generally speaking, after the first 

 thinning, when the trees were eight years old, the lower 

 branches gradually began to give way, and as the trees 

 increased in height, this became more and more apparent f 

 and formed a good guide as to the time which should elapse 

 before the second thinning might profitably be engaged in. 

 The intervals between the various thinnings should for the 

 first thirty years in the case of Larch and, indeed, most 

 other trees be comparatively short, and longer with advance 

 of age ; but heavy thinnings must be carefully avoided, and 

 especially if the best class of coniferous timber is to be 

 produced. 



A well-managed Larch plantation of twenty years' growth 

 should have the trees branchless for about one-half of their 

 height, wiiioh is, of course, brought about by crowding, and 

 at forty years three-fourths of the trunk should be clear of 

 branches. 



I have purposely abstained from giving the number of 

 feet apart at which trees ought to stand at various stages of 

 their growth, and the number of thinnings they require, as 



being calculated to mislead 



138 



