THE COPPICE SYSTEMS 177 



Holding Over Reserves 



Under this system all trees in a sprout stand are 

 cut, except a certain number of selected individuals left 

 scattered over the area to remain during a second rota- 

 tion. Take, for example, a stand of oak, chestnut, hick- 

 ory, and maple sprouts 25 years old. Certain straight, 

 thrifty trees are designated to be left, and the remainder 

 cut clear, as in the simple coppice method. At the 

 end of the next rotation, the main stand will be com- 

 posed of 25 year old sprouts with scattered individuals 

 50 years old. 



The purpose of this system is to use the land chiefly 

 for the production of small wood, and at the same time to 

 obtain a certain amount of large timber. It is the same 

 principle as the system of reserving thrifty standards, 

 described on page 118, applied to sprout forests. The 

 rotation is short, returns are frequent, and there is se- 

 cured a measure of the higher and more valuable grades 

 of timber. 



When the stand is ready to cut, the forester marks the 

 reserves. He aims to leave, regularly distributed over 

 the area, as many trees as possible without interfering 

 with the reproduction from the stumps of those cut. As 

 sprouts do not thrive under cover, there must be no sem- 

 blance of a canopy of reserves, but the individuals must 

 be scattered. The number left depends on the toler- 

 ance of the coppiced trees, which necessarily varies with 

 different species and under different conditions. This 



