3S4 REGENERATION BY COPPICE. 



stubbed out, good soil should be placed immediately over the cut 

 sections and the rest of the hole filled up with earth free from 

 wood chips, which would only attract insects and induce rot by 

 their decomposition. 



It is obvious that the coupe should be completely cleared of 

 fallen produce before the buds begin to expand previous to the 

 appearance of the shoots. 



8. Season for cutting. 



Coppice grown for bark must, if the steaming process is not 

 resorted to, be cat during the first burst of vegetative activity, 

 as it is only then that the bark can be stripped off without being 

 injured ; and stems for wattling and wickerwork must obviously 

 be cut before they are fully lignified, that is to say, soon after the 

 first half of the season of vegetation. Otherwise, the great rule 

 is never to exploit outside the season of vegetative repose, during 

 which the trees possess their largest number of resting buds and 

 contain the maximum quantity of reserve material. The very 

 best time for cutting is the week or two preceding the re-awakening 

 of vegetation, for the cambium, being then gorged with formative 

 sap and released from pressure at the section of the stool, at once 

 forms a strong cementing callus between the bark and wood and 

 effectually prevents their subsequent separation. And the worst 

 possible time is when the new foliage is completely out, as all the 

 reserve food has by that time been exhausted. In any case, as 

 short a time as possible should intervene between the commence- 

 ment of operations and the swelling up of the buds, and work 

 should be stopped as soon as the sap begins to rise and cut surfaces 

 weep or bleed profusely. 



Where spring brings out the new shoots of the y p ar, the time for 

 felling extends from the beginning of December to the beginning 

 or end of March. But where several days of continuous frost 

 prevail in winter, the exploitation must necessarily be put off until 

 the season of frosts is over ; if the cambium is frozen at the time 

 of the cutting, the blows of the woodman's cools must destroy the 

 connection between the bark and the wood, and ii: the frost occurs 

 after wards, the expansion and solidification of the cambium, followed 

 by liquefying thaw, must equally cause a separation. No work is 

 of course possible in lying snow. 



When vegetative activity is called forth anew by the summer 

 rains, only night frosts can occur and the coppicing may go on 

 uninterruptedly from D^cjm'jjr to May. Not imfrequeiitly there 



