352 NATURAL REGENERATION BY SEED. 



sufficient, whether at any point it was or was not being injured by 

 the cover, whether it was languishing or vigorous, nay sometimes 

 even whether it was alive or dead. 



The selection of the trees should be effected in accordance with 

 the principles enunciated in the preceding sub-article, and the 

 work should go on from sweep to sweep as in the case of the 

 preparatory and seed-fellings. The system of a double examination 

 recommended for the seed-felling (see p. 345) may be adopted 

 here ; but it will seldom be justifiable, except perhaps in the first or 

 first two after-fellings. The width of the sweeps will be determin- 

 ed by the distance, on either side of him, up to which the selecting 

 officer can conveniently and accurately note both the condition of 

 the young growth and the density of the cover overhead. 



VII. Execution of the fellings. 



The execution of the after-fellings is a complex operation con- 

 sisting of several distinct works as follows : 



1. The actual felling or curtailment of the crowns of the pa- 

 rent trees ; 



2. The removal of epicorms ; 



3. The eradication, cutting back or topping off of inferior 

 growth interfering with the reproduction of the more desirable 

 species; 



4. The cutting back of badly injured seedlings of the better 

 broad-leaved kinds to enable them to reform themselves ; and 



5. Completion of the regeneration by artificial methods. 



1. Actual felling and lopping of the parent trees. 



Whatever the species, the felling must take place during the 

 season of vegetative repose. It is then that the seedlings, being 

 fully lignified and also containing their maximum quantity of re- 

 serve matter and still possessing all the advanced buds that are to 

 form the next season's flush of foliage, are most elastic, take least 

 hurt and recover most quickly from injury. If the seedlings and 

 trees are out leaf, so much the better. But where continuous frosts 

 prevail in winter, all work should be stopped during the prevalence 

 of the frost, during which the frozen seedlings will necessarily be 

 extremely brittle. On the other hand, felling in the snow, provided 

 the gradient is not too steep and there is no hard frost going on, is 

 always to be recommended, for the seedlings could not have any 

 better protection than the covering O f snow. Thus, according to 

 the forest region, the best time for felling may comprise late 



