i 4 4 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 



up the ground with their snouts and embed the 

 seed welJ in the soil. 



The third specific felling, forming the * gradual 

 clearance ' of the old crop, extends over a long 

 period, during which the rate of increase on the 

 trees is large and profitable. It begins when the 

 seedling crop is about two years old, and the rate 

 at which it proceeds is mainly dependent on the 

 thriving of the latter. Where the seedlings show 

 themselves in want of more light and dew-fall, 

 the old trees must be removed ; otherwise it is 

 profitable to retain the latter so long as they do 

 not interfere in any marked degree with the 

 growth of the young crop. Every two or three 

 years the area regenerated must be gone over, 

 and such trees removed as may seem necessary. 

 On dry, warm exposures the clearance has usually 

 to be effected within about six or eight years after 

 the good mast year from which the birth of the 

 young crop dates, but on the average it extends 

 over ten or twelve years from then, and may even 

 be prolonged over fifteen to twenty years on 

 moist soils having a cool northern exposure. 



Beechwoods require a fair amount of tending. 

 During the early cleanings and weedings coppice- 



