62 THE PRINCIPLES OF HANDLING WOODLANDS 



the trees before cutting, while inspection is very lax, so 

 that even when a company has the best intentions the 

 plan fails to be properly carried out. 



Another defect of the rigid diameter limit plan is 

 that the limit itself is determined very largely by 

 guesswork and tradition. A 12-inch limit under certain 

 conditions may be conservative, from the standpoint of 

 leaving the forest in a fairly productive state. In other 

 conditions an owner may be deceiving himself as to the 

 rate of production after cutting. As a matter of fact, 

 this is exactly what is constantly happening. In many 

 cases the owners have entirely overestimated the yield 

 capacity of the forest under their method of treatment; 

 and in the case of large corporations which are counting 

 on an indefinite production this will be a serious matter. 

 It would be wise business policy for such owners to deter- 

 mine what their forests can produce under a proper selec- 

 tion system, and then practise that system in the manner 

 indicated in the foregoing section, so as actually to secure 

 the production desired. 



Provision for Reproduction 



In the management of a selection forest the aim is to 

 secure prompt reproduction of a suitable species in the 

 openings made in lumbering. In some forests, trees of 

 intermediate size, capable of bearing seed, are so well 

 distributed that it may not be necessary to leave any large 

 trees for this special purpose. In other cases the inter- 

 mediate seed-bearing trees are scanty or not always prop- 



