336 NATURAL REGENERATION BY SEED. 



Moreover under a high leaf-canopy, the light is more uniformly 

 distributed over the ground below, whereas under a low cover 

 there are bright lights intermixed with deep shadows. 



(viij The younger the trees are, the larger must be the open- 

 ings made in the leaf-canopy, and vice versa ; firstly, because 

 younger trees spread out more rapidly, and, secondly, because the 

 younger the trees are, the more forcing do they require in order 

 to attain early and abundant fertility. 



(viii) In a mixed, as opposed to a pure, forest the fellings may 

 usually be heavier, since in the former the number of stems is 

 generally larger, gaps are more quickly closed up, the fertility of 

 the soil greater, and accidents less dangerous (See pp. 109-114 

 passim. ,) 



(ix) All trees that cannot live or at least remain sound up to 

 the first few years following the seed-felling, should, if their re- 

 moval does not create too large a gap and they cannot absolutely 

 be dispensed with as seed-bearers, be taken out. 



(x) Trees with heritable defects should, as far as possible, be 

 got rid of. 



(xi) If the trees to be removed are not to be grubbed out, or 

 belong to species that throw up root-suckers, the fellings should 

 not be so heavy as to encourage the production of stool-shoots and 

 root-suckers. 



(xii) In temperate and in tropical evergreen forests, where 

 heavy brushwood at once springs up on the admission of only a 

 moderate amount of light, the fellings should be very cautious. 



V . Selection and marking of the trees to be felled . 



As the number of trees to be preserved must always far exceed 

 those to be felled or lopped, it is obvious that, in the interests of 

 economy both of time and money, it is these latter which should 

 be marked. 



The best time for selecting the trees to be marked is when the 

 entire crop is in full leaf. It is then that the various species are 

 most easily recognised, and it is only then that the soundness, 

 vigour and spread of each individual tree can be correctly appre- 

 ciated. 



The marking party should work in successive sweeps backwards 

 and forwards, beginning with the most convenient edge of the 

 coupe. Much time will be saved and distraction of attention from 

 the work of selecting the trees avoided, by previously marking out 

 the sweeps by means of straight parallel lines with the aid of 



